Jane Doe
by MaBre85
Summary: One girl wants to finally live, the other one wants to die. One girl lost everything, the other one never even had a life. One is a teenage schoolgirl, the other one a trained assassin. Yet, both of them are bound by fate.
1. Chapter 1: The Butterfly

**Author's Note:**

**So, while I'm still struggling to finally continue my bigger stories, I keep myself busy with smaller ones for practice and to get some ideas out of my head.**

**This one came into my mind while I was listening the new album of my favorite band. The entire story is almost completely written, so no long waiting for the next chapter.**

**Now, enjoy!**

**P.S.: You guys know the drill, rated M means rated M. So, expect dark topics, blood, violence and a bit sex!**

* * *

**Jane Doe**

One girl wants to finally live, the other one wants to die. One girl lost everything, the other one never even had a life. One is a teenage schoolgirl, the other one a trained assassin. Yet, both of them are bound by fate.

**Chapter 1: The Butterfly**

Rain splashed against the windshield as the car drove in a fast pace through the dark night. It poured so badly that not even the modern headlights could pierce through the darkness more than just 25 feet. Only thanks to the projected terrain on the windshield and the computer-assistance it was allowed to drive at this speed.

Inside the car sat a family. Father, mother and daughter, returning from a happy family-trip in the wilderness of the former state of Oregon.

"So, did you like our little trip, munchkin?" asked William Price, self-made billionaire and most influential man on the west coast, looking through the rear mirror at his daughter, a teenage-girl with long strawberry-blond hair, who was playing a game on a handheld device.

"Yeah!" she answered, replying her dad's gaze with a grin. "Just too bad we didn't kill the deer."

Adolescent thinking. William thought like that for a long time in his life until the war had brought him back to the ground. And, though he never considered it back in the old days, now it was in his responsibility to pass his experience on to the next generation.

"Killing is not the point of hunting, darling!"

"Then, what is it?" Joyce Price, a strawberry-blond woman and William's wife, chimed in.

William knew that this was more a rhetorical question to join the conversation and to support her husband to teach her beloved daughter some very important things, than to rant against hunting in general.

"We hunt for self-sustain, not for fun or sport. The killing is only one sad part of it and should be done as fast and painless as possible! This is why I didn't shoot the doe. I didn't have a clear shot, so I spared it."

Being smart and questioning everything grown-ups do all the time, Chloe put her gaming device aside and focused on the conversation. "But what's the point of killing those animals, when our food is artificial produced anyway?"

"Training," her father said nonchalantly. "Right before the war, civil unrests had swept through this country. Stores had been looted, production chains had collapsed and people were killing each other for far less than nutrition. Money had become worthless, only basic goods increased in value. In these dark times, hunting kept you alive. Not only for self-sustain, but also for trading. Luckily," he sighed, giving his daughter a warm smile through the mirror, "you never had to experience this. It had been a hard time and only the love to your mother kept me going in those many dark hours."

Reaching for his wife's hand, William grabbed it tightly and gave Joyce the most love-struck smile. Her love was everything for him and he loved to get lost in her beautiful eyes. Unfortunately, it also distracted him from the road ahead for a moment, which let him almost oversee a person on the street. Cursing under his breath, William made an evasive maneuver and lost control over his car.

"Hold on!" he yelled as the vehicle slid off the road and flipped over several time, the screams of his wife and daughter mixing with the eerie sound of deforming metal and crashing glass.

Then, there was silence. The car had stopped moving and only the pouring rain still pattered on the body of the vehicle. Putting together all his willpower, William tried to orientate. Obviously, the car was resting on its roof, since everything was upside-down. His wife was probably unconscious, hanging limp from her seat, her face smeared with blood. Sadly, he wasn't able to look behind to see how his daughter was doing, so he called for her.

"Chloe? Munchkin, are you hurt?"

Nothing. Probably unconscious, too. Though every fiber of his body hurt, William knew that he had to free himself and help his family. The car's computer had probably already called emergency, so he hadn't had to care about that right now.

With a groan, the red-haired man tried to release the seatbelt, but failed. He wanted to try it again, but stopped as he heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey! Anybody out there? We need help!"

A pair of converse shoes came to a rest right beside his window. The person kneeled down and William looked into the freckled face of a girl. Water dripped down from her shoulder-long brown hair and her beautiful blue eyes glanced sternly at him.

"Hey there, little girl! Can you get your parents? My family…"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as the young girl raised a gun and shot his injured wife right in the head. Then, she aimed at him.

William never had been a man to plead for his life. He always accepted his fate. Maybe even the fate of his now dead wife, but there was one thing he couldn't take as given.

"Do what you have to do, but please, spare the life of my daughter!"

"Consider yourself lucky that you don't have to watch her die!" the brunette said emotionlessly and pulled the trigger.

A loud bang ended William Price's life as the bullet pierced his skull. Having taken care of that, the young girl shifted her attention towards the, unconscious, from her seat hanging, daughter. She took aim again, her finger squeezing the trigger, but then she stopped and looked deeply at this peaceful face.

The strawberry-blonde's hair was messy and partially spotted with blood that was seeping through a wound on her forehead. Just now, the brunette realized that a long piece of metal was sticking out of the other girl's chest, more red liquid dripping from it.

Thinking that her target was as good as dead anyway, the freckled assassin lowered the gun and left.

If she would have known what future was going to uphold for her, she would had pulled the trigger just to be sure.

* * *

Two years later…

The loud punk-rock music blared through the industrial complex and colorful, flickering light flooded the vast hall, which was filled with countless dancing people. And in the middle of it, was a lanky, blue-haired teenager, wearing a leather jacket with studs and military pants with blue digital-camouflage design. The young girl danced wildly, throwing her head from one side to the other.

Then the music stopped and the band announced that they'll take a short break. Panting heavily, the bluenette made her way to the bar.

"Yo, one beer!" she called to the broad man behind the counter, who faced her with annoyance.

"How old are ya, girlie?"

Giving him a stinky eye, she only said, "Old enough!" and got the refreshing beverage handed. While taking a deep swig, she leaned against the bar and let her gaze wander over the crowd. Living in the outskirts of the Seattle district – a conglomerate of towns, cities and post-war settlements – the mass of people looked like such. Workers, punks, gang-members, dealers, lowlifes, outlaws. Short: the very bottom of society, which represents almost 75 percent of the district's population.

The bluenette loved to be around such people, because they were more fun than the snobby upper class in the district's well-guarded center. Her surrogate father was a security guard at the outer gates, which separated the poor from the rich.

After emptying her bottle, the punky looking girl set it back onto the bar and wanted the order another one. But the bartender was at the other end, talking to some skeevy guys. As she waited for him to return, the bluenette gave her close-by neighbors a glimpse. Maybe there was someone interesting around to chat or even to flirt. The left side looked pretty boring, but as she shifted her gaze to the right and sighted a brunette, freckled girl right beside her, who was staring into her almost empty glass of filled with a bluish liquid. Though the brunette seemed to be depressed, the punk-girl decided to risk a chat.

"Hey, 'sup with the long face?" she asked in a bold yet friendly way, a smug smile on her face. At first, she thought that the other girl might just ignore her, until her soft, monotone voice chimed.

"I'm not making a _long face_!"

"Really?!" Feeling a bit of the ice breaking, the girl with the chin-long blue hair decided to keep on pushing her chances. "Too bad! Planned to buy ya a refill to cheer you up, but-…"

"Why are you speaking to me?" wanted the brunette to know, now returning the glance with a stern demeanor, which would terrify other people, but not the bluenette.

"I don't know," she answered with a shrug, still smirking at the slight smaller girl. "You seemed to be upset and I just can't stand seeing a cutie like you all depressed 'n' shit. The name's Elizabeth, by the way, but you can call me Elli!"

Elli reached her hand for a handshake, but it simply got replied with a mumbled, "Leave me alone!" as the brunette turned away and intended to leave. But Elli didn't want to let her go just like that.

"Okay," she said, blocking the other girl's way. "Cards on the table: you don't belong here, fact! But I get it, you're pretty pissed. Maybe just got shit-canned by the love of your life, thought you can get wasted and fucked at a shabby shindig, like this one here, and then feel better. Well, newsflash: It won't work! Personal experience. So, why don't you just take my offer, let me buy you a drink and then hit the dancefloor? C'mon, it'll be fun!"

Surprised by so much boldness, the smaller girl just remained at her place, entirely stunned. Until she couldn't resists Elli's catchy smile anymore and smirked herself.

"Jane," she eventually said and their sights locked.

"Hi Jane, nice to meet ya!"

Eagerly, Elli grabbed Jane's hand, shook it and immediately pulled her onto the crowded floor as the band started to play again.

* * *

"Damn, girl, you hella know how to dance!" said Chloe with a toothy grin, her forehead covered with sweat.

"Th-thanks!" Jane replied, shyly comping a lose strand of her brown hair out of her face. "But you weren't that bad, too!"

"Girl, are you hitting on me?" the lanky girl suddenly spoke with a scoff as both were already sitting at the bar. Taken aback, the brunette just averted her gaze and fumbled nervously with her fingers, only stopping it as she received a soft push on her shoulder. "Chill, dude, I'm just messing with ya! Though you're really looking cute when swinging that sweet butt of yours!"

Out of a sudden, Jane's shyness vanished as she spotted someone in the crowd. "I need to go," she plainly said and walked away without another word, leaving behind an entirely dumbfounded Elli.

"Da Fuck?!" she just managed to say as she witnessed how the brunette headed towards a small blond girl with two skeevy guys in each arm. As soon as Jane had reached them, they left.

Feeling rejected, Elli's mood took a nosedive. With a groan she slammed her flat on the counter, swiped her money-card over the pay-terminal and headed towards the exit with angry steps.

* * *

The Maglev, a common public transportation vehicle, came to a halt and as soon as the doors slid open, Elizabeth walked out of the train and continued her way home. Though it was a moonless night, the whole area was lighted like it was a sunny day, due to the bright lights of the inner city, its threatening, fortified wall always standing high above everything.

Knowing that her surrogate father had the graveyard shift, Elli didn't even bother to sneak into the small, shabby one-story house. One of the houses for the privileged guards of the wall. She realized that it had been a mistake not to check the perimeter as soon as she walked through the front door and stood right away face-to-face with her surrogate father, a tall middle-aged man with black, short-cut hair and mustache, wearing the uniform of the guards.

"Where have you been?" he yelled, crossing his arms. Albeit Elli was pretty much busted and not in mood for a fight, she got so much agitated that she couldn't do anything else than to backtalk.

"I was out, havin' fun. Got a problem with that?!"

"Yes, I do! Elizabeth, I'm responsible…"

"Stop. Calling. Me. Elizabeth! My name's Chloe! What's so hard, calling me that at least at home?"

"It's for your own safety!" he shouted, before his stern demeanor softened. "Chloe, I promised your father, if something would happen to him and your mother, I'd take care of you. You know that he had a lot of enemies and…"

"I don't fucking care, David!" Chloe kept on ranting, "My parent's wealth is gone. I live in a shitpile of home, got not even enough money for a fieldtrip at school and don't even give a shit about politics. I just wanna live my life! I wanna have fun! Just once a week I wanna get outta there and meet other people! Can't you understand that?"

David unfolded his arms and closed in on the blue-haired girl, laying one hand on her shoulder.

"I understand very well. I know how you feel. War took away my youth as well and I'd wish for nothing more than to give you a normal life!" He gave her a slight smile and then sighed deeply. "Still…you're grounded until further notice!"

With these words in the room, David headed outside. Even more frustrated, Chloe groaned loudly, ran into her room and shut the door violently. She threw her jacket in the next corner, jumped onto her bed and cried into the pillow, cursing the world and especially her parents for leaving her in such a situation.


	2. Chapter 2: The Doe and The Angel

**Chapter 2: The Doe and The Angel**

Her sad eyes gazed into a broken mirror, hoping to find an answer. Hoping to find a way to escape. But Jane knew better. She knew that there was no escape from this. Not that she had any saying in this matter anyway.

She scanned face – the freckles, the small nose, her soft lips, her boring hair – and she asked herself, why Elli had even talked to her? Had it been pity? Or had she been simply making fun of her? Nonetheless, Jane couldn't remember having so much fun before. Actually, she never had any fun in her life before.

She hadn't been at that shindig to have fun, no. She had been there for a client. A client, who's lying in the next room and waited to be taken care of.

With a melancholy sigh, she turned away from her reflection and left the bathroom, which was as dilapidated like the rest of the shabby hotel room or, in any way, like the whole hotel.

Jane was entirely naked and felt disgusted. Not only from that dirty room, but also from her task ahead. She hated her job. Hated what she was forced to do.

"Come here, you little slut and get busy!" a mid-aged man with tattoos and cheap neuro-implants all over his body, and a big lack of hygiene called for her, already stroking his sex upon the sight of the naked girl, who was flooded by a new wave of disgust and nausea. But she still had a job to do, which made her body act on its own.

Jane climbed atop the man and gazed seductively at him. Not that she wanted to do it. The client reached for her small breast and kneaded them violently, swirling her nipples, which caused pain and discomfort, but she couldn't defend herself against it. But this didn't mean that the brunette gave up her inner fight.

The skeevy man now rubbed his penis against Jane's sex, inducing even more hurt. She felt that he wanted to enter her, but she wasn't even wet. Let alone that she hadn't planned to fuck him or anybody else in general. Therefore, she had to end this right now.

"Hey!" he suddenly yelled at her, "Stop playing fucking games and ride my cock!"

With her thumb, Jane spun a ring that was on her ring finger, before she used said hand to carefully brush the side of her client's head.

"Just relax!" she said with a fawning voice and immediately, her client froze with a pain grimaced face. Blood started to flow out his mouth, nose and ears, while his body got shaken by cramps. With a soft "Shh!" she sent another barrage of hyper-sonic waves through his head, letting every vein inside burst, which turned his brain in to a pile of red-greyish mashed potatoes.

The client had stopped moving, his face still showing the pain and surprise he had experienced. Jane didn't care, her assignment was done. Slowly, she climbed off the corpse and headed back into the bathroom. She took off the ring and placed it into a secret pocket of her pants, before she entered the shower and let the warm water wash away her victim's filth on her body.

A sob chimed through the room, then another one. Embracing her body, Jane sunk down onto the shower's floor and cried out her emotional agony.

* * *

Soft, lustful moans chimed through the hotel room. On the bed, a skinny, blond girl had sex with the other skeevy man from the concert. He could've been the other man's twin, yet he looked a bit different. But the blonde, whose bun was messed up, didn't mind. She simply enjoyed the act. Enjoyed to feel something, even pain. Actually, everything that reminded her that she was an actual human being gave her joy.

The man's grunting got louder and louder. His pumps more intensive. She knew that fun was as good as over. For a moment she glimpsed at the ugly man above her, realizing that his eyes were closed as he approached his climax.

The blonde took the golden necklace with a cross attached to it off her neck and pulled on it. The nano-string expanded, she swiftly put it around the man's neck and chanted a prayer.

„Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

With a hard pull the string cut through skin, flesh, sinews and bones.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

A red line forms around the victims neck and first droplets hit the girl's pale skin.

"Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;"

The head slid off the neck, landing on the pillow right beside the girl. She closes her eyes as a flood of blood rained down on her.

"and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Before the muscles of her victim relaxed, she pushed the beheaded corpse off the bed and remained still for some time, breathing heavily.

"Amen!"

The girl shifted her gaze and looked for some time at the shocked demeanor that had imprinted into the head's expression. Then, she stood up and walked into the bathroom, leaving a trail of red liquid.

As she started the shower and let the hot water run over her blood-drenched body, she sighed in relaxation. After she had cleaned herself from her sin, she got dressed, put the necklace on and left the room.

From the room across, a freckled brunette emerged. Both stared at each other for some time, before they embraced each other and headed back to their surrogate family.

* * *

They had just passed the gate to the district's center as Jane started to speak melancholy, the engine of the electric car humming in the background.

"It's sad, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked in return, looking at the other girl with a worried frown.

"The gap between the poor and the rich. What does it say about a society, in which one quarter has to hide behind thick walls from the rest?"

"This is Sodom and Gomorrha, Jane. The war turned each and every one of us into sinners. The world just waits to get cleansed by the Lord. And as long as we have to wait, I'm doing god's work!"

Taken aback by this comment, Jane now gave her friend a worried glimpse. "I-I don't know, Angela. Don't you have the feeling that what we're doing is wrong?"

"Of course," Angela answered, giving Jane a soft smile, "but it's not like we have a choice."

* * *

After the black car had passed another security checkpoint, Jane and Angela approached her final destination: Chase manor. A vast building, which literally radiated the power of the Chase family. One of the wealthiest families on the west coast.

The big front entrance alone was guarded by ten mercenaries and two heavy war-time combat mechs. Only after passing another ID check, both girls were allowed to enter the building, guns always pointing at them.

Inside, Jane and Angela made their way towards the office of Victoria Chase, the family's heir and their mistress.

Being responsible for the entire family business around the Seattle district, Victoria Chase, a tall woman with blond, pixie-cut hair owned a vast room as her office. It had a big window with a mahogany desk in front of it.

The desk was guarded by two other women. One black-haired, the other one blond. Both tall and wearing high-end neuro-implants. Victoria's personal bodyguards, Courtney and Taylor.

As soon as Jane and Angela were taking the first steps into the room, Victoria stood up and greeted them with open arms.

"Jane and Angela, my two favorite assassins!" the pixie-blonde cheered, giving both a short hug. "I already heard you two did a magnificent job out there!"

"Thank you, mistress!" both girls replied in unison, bowing their heads.

"You sweethearts came in right on time, because I want both of you to meet our new contractor, Mr. Nathan Prescott!"

Victoria pointed at a brunette young man, who had been sitting on a leather couch and was now getting up to inspect the two girls. Jane knew that the Prescott's were an influential family and pretty close with the Chases. It was highly probably that she already had killed for them.

"They don't look like much," Nathan mentioned, while he scanned them from head to toe.

"That's the point, Nate!" Victoria answered, brushing with her hand over Angela's cheek. "If I'd send Courtney or Taylor, everyone would get suspicious, but these two girls look so innocent. So…cute. Nobody would ever expect 'em to be well-trained assassins."

Still not entirely convinced, Nathan walked back to the sofa and slumped down on it. "You mentioned something about neural conditioning. That they obey every one of your orders."

"Neuro-synaptic reprogramming would be the exact term," chimed another male voice, originating from a black-haired man with a trimmed beard, wearing a black suit.

"Ah, Dr. Jefferson!" Victoria spoke with joy, embracing the mid-aged man. "Nate, meet the genius behind my submissive servants. He will explain to you how he had turned these two cuties into my personal killing-machines."

While Victoria sat down onto the couch beside Nathan, Jane and Angela kept their position and Jefferson started his lecture.

"The human brain is very complex, yet it's nothing more than a biochemical computer. Our being; our character is just a program, equal to an operating system. A program that can be reprogrammed. Sadly, the older a human becomes, the more complex this program gets, making it harder to inflict certain changes. Therefore, we took these two subjects when they had been five years old and reprogrammed their operating system. Simply spoken."

"And what changes did you make? Did you just delete their emotions 'n' shit?" Nathan Prescott asked, receiving a chuckled "No." by the doctor.

"Like in any program, if you change or delete too much, for instance any emotions, you'd break it. In this case the consequences would be slight breakdowns up to a complete fail of brain activities, short: death. No, I simply added a sequence, which will leave them no other choice, but to fulfill a certain person's wish; in this case it would be Miss Chase."

"How did you make sure that they only listen to her?" the brunette man kept asking, but this time it was Victoria who answered.

"Voice decoding and a little password." She then closed in on Nathan, speaking with a fawning voice. "Care for a demonstration?" To the blonde's satisfaction, he only managed to gulp and nodded, which let her grin before she turned towards the two girls. "_Dark Angel_…"

Immediately, Angela stiffened and her demeanor went blank.

"…Stick your tongue into Jane's mouth…and make it sexy!"

"Yes, mistress!" the small blonde confirmed and turned towards Jane, right away, cupped her cheeks and began to kiss her with passion.

At first, Jane had been entirely overwhelmed by this situation, but as soon as she got used to her friend's soft lips and the tongue that was forcing itself into her mouth, she complied and enjoyed this soothing feeling of Angela's intimate closeness. Sadly, this moment came faster to an end than she'd wished for.

"Alright, that's enough, you little pervs!" said Victoria, who had already been brushing with the tips of her fingers over her thigh in slow motion. "_Dark Angel_, stop!"

Right on cue, Angela broke the kiss, but kept her deep gaze onto Jane's eyes. "I-I'm sorry!" she whispered.

"Don't be, it's okay!" she got as an answer from the brunette.

"Nice show," now Nathan threw in, "But I don't need some willing whores! I need a killer!"

With a growing smirk on her face, Victoria snipped with her finger and Taylor left the office through a side door, only to return a few seconds later with an old man. The pixie-blonde stood up and got a gun reached by her bodyguard, giving it to Jane.

"Kill him!" she said plainly, pointing at the old guy in shabby clothes, who looked terrified beyond everything.

"Wh-why? What did he do?" the brunette asked with wide open eyes, feeling that something wasn't right. Of course, she got an answer that took her aback.

"This old fart crossed the street without stopping for my car, so that I had to hit the brakes and broke a nail."

"That's the reason?!"Jane yelled and, right away, two guns were pointed at her. But Victoria wasn't impressed. She just shrugged with her shoulders and acted all bored.

"Today it's crossing the street without noticing me; tomorrow he tries to kill me. I'm just thinking ahead. Now kill him!"

She knew, disobeying orders were punished harshly. Still, Jane didn't move a muscle.

"See!" Victoria then spoke to Nathan, slumping down onto the sofa again. "All emotional, innocent 'n' shit. This cunt can't even hurt a fly, until…" She then grinned viciously at Jane and the young woman knew what was going to happen, pleading internally that someone might have mercy with her. "_Red Doe_…"

This time the brunette froze, awaiting her mistress' orders.

"…kill this tweep!"

Though she tried to fight and thought that she could regain control over her body, Jane raised that gun and shot the poor, old man right in the head, scattering parts of his brain all over the wall and floor behind him.

"See," Victoria then spoke to Nathan once more, "No backtalking. No last doubts. Just a clean kill and one problem less. I think we're now ready to talk business, right?"

"Yeah," Nathan answered, still impressed by the demonstration.

"Great!" The pixie-blonde then jumped up, reaching Nathan a hand, who took it right away and raised, as well. "I think we're doing this in my private quarters. Courtney," she addressed the black-haired bodyguard, "take care of that mess! And you two," she then gazed at Jane and Angela, "you did great tonight! So, go into your room and fuck each other or something. Ciao!"

With these words, the blonde walked with her new accomplice through another side door and was gone, while Angela and Jane still stood in their place, whereas the latter still had the gun in her shacking hand. Taylor approached the petrified brunette and ripped the pistol out of her hand, commenting it with a hissed "Whimp!"

"C'mon, Jane!" Angela eventually said and led her friend out of the office and towards their room. She knew that, in contrast to her, Jane had never accepted her fate and, lately, it had become worse. She felt bad for her friend, wanting nothing more than to see her happy.

Eventually, both had reached their quarter. In silence, they sat down on Jane's bed and stayed there for a while as each of them tried to cope what had happened tonight. But it wasn't the killing that kept their minds busy.

While Jane actually thought about the fun she had with Elli at the concert, Angela's mind was wrapped around that kiss with her friend. About the intense emotions she had felt. Therefore, all she wanted right now was Jane.

"Did you like the kiss?" she asked out of a sudden, glimpsing from the corner her eye at her friend and reached for her hand.

Overwhelmed, Jane just stared at her only friend, but hadn't had the chance to form an answer as Angela suddenly leaned in and kissed her again.

Yes, Jane liked to be kissed by the blonde. Yes, she liked the feeling. That's why she didn't resist, but returns the affection with eager.

Soon, the kiss turned into more. At first it were just some tender touches, then the first garments hit the floor, one-by-one. Both girls were now naked and Angela gazed intensively at her friend, caressing her breasts softly. She always wanted to do this. It had literally burned under her nails and in her crotch, but still she never dared to take the first step. Until now.

"You're so beautiful!"

As a reply, soft moans emerged from the brunette's mouth as she enjoyed her friend's careful touches. Then, Angela's hand wandered downwards and started to massage her sex. It felt awesome and Jane spread her legs as much as possible. Yes, she had masturbated before, when the inner need for intimacy had overwhelmed her, yet this was so much different. She actually loved it.

"Jane," Angela then whispered into her ear, "I know you're still a virgin. Can I…?"

Jane cupped the blonde's cheek and gazed at her deeply. "Take me, Katie! I want it!" she moaned quietly in lust and for a moment, the other girl froze. They both knew that they weren't allowed to use their real names. Yet, at this moment, it didn't matter anymore.

"I love you, Maxine!" Kate replied and let her lips crash on Maxine's again, muffling her loud gasps as she entered her with two fingers.

Once more, this night, Maxine felt alive and free. For her, all boundaries had fallen and somehow she realized a change inside. _Jane _had vanished for this very moment and it was good.

"Maxine, please! I…I need it, too!" pleaded Kate, already grinding her sex against her lover's thigh. And the brunette fulfilled her wish by softly caressing the blonde's nether region as well.

Being tightly entangled in a lustful dance of moans, touches and kisses, both girls made each other feel good, until they climaxed in unison.


	3. Chapter 3: The Blue-Jay

**Chapter 3: The Blue-Jay**

Two months later…

A soft melody, chiming from the school's PA, signed the end of today's classes and all students of the _Chase Academy for the Gifted _packed their belongings.

This academy, founded and financed by the Chase family, was a privileged school for very intelligent students, who weren't citizens of the district's center. Most parents hoped to gain a better life as soon as their kids graduated from this academy. But the cruel truth was that only the graduates had a slight chance to get hired by one of the rich families. Their own, commonly poor relatives and most of the other students stayed in the outer rims. And since money transfers from the inner district to the outer one was strictly forbidden, they never got the chance to improve their life. Who of those wealthy people would want to share their neighborhood with people originating from the poor parts of the district anyway?

Sighing "Finally," Elizabeth packed her stuff and wanted to leave as the voice of her arts teacher stopped her.

"Miss Madsen, can I have a word with you in private, please?"

Rolling with her eyes, the bluenette turned around and got caught in the amazing green eyes of Miss Amber, a young teacher from the central district. Though she belonged to one of the powerful families, the blonde with the long hair and a blue feather-earring was actually very nice and not so arrogant and patronizing like the others.

"'sup, teach?" asked Elli as she faced her teacher.

"Follow me into my office, Elizabeth!" she got as a reply, following the blonde to the office right beside the classroom. Miss Amber opened the door and signed her student to go inside. Then, she closed and locked it right away. Not wasting a second, the young woman closed in on Elli, pressed her against the desk and crashed her lips onto the younger girl's ones.

Quiet moans chimed through the room as the teacher intensified the kissing and started to caress her student.

"Mmh…Ra-…Rachel…mmh…!" Elli mumbled between the kisses, trying to back away a bit. "S-stop…mmh…!

Breathing heavily, Rachel Amber broke the contact and looked for some time at the young bluenette, waiting what she wanted to tell her.

"Rachel…uh, Miss Amber, I-I don't think we should do this amymore!" she eventually said, making the blonde frown. Yes, Rachel Amber was kind towards the lower class, but she also radiated power and authority, so that, sometimes, she didn't even have to speak to get an answer right away.

"Listen, I know it's kinda fucked, but I…I don't wanna do this anymore, 'cause if someone finds out about this, I'd be in big fucking trouble! But I need to graduate from this school! It's my only ticket outta here!"

Seconds pass as Rachel stared at the young punk with an unreadable demeanor and Elli just hoped that she hadn't just ruined her future. Then, a wry smirk formed on the blond teacher's face.

"Alright," she simply said and placed one last peck on the other girl's cheek. Having expected some resist at least, Elli arched an eyebrow.

"So, no hard feelings?"

"Elizabeth, you're old enough to make your own decisions and I respect that! We had some wonderful moments together, yet we both need to be comfortable with it. If that's not the case, then it's the right thing to end it." the blonde replied, patting her student's shoulder as she guided her out of the office. Rachel unlocked the door again and signed Elli with a friendly smile to leave.

"Thanks, Miss Amber!" she said and walked away, a strange feeling in her stomach about her ex-lover's behavior that was so unlike her normally impulsive and eccentric character. The whole situation had freaked her so much out that she didn't pay any attention where she was heading until she bumped into another person and heard how it hit the ground with a groan.

After shaking off her first surprised, Elli said, "Shit! Are you al-…"

But her breathing stopped and her words got stuck in her throat as she realized who she had bumped into.

* * *

[Victoria]: _"Remember, blond hair and blue feather-earring! Got it?"_

"Yes, mistress!" confirmed Jane into the com and entered the building of the _Chase Academy for the Gifted_. She wished that Angela would be at her side right now, but since this assignment was very delicate, Victoria had decided that the brunette needed to do it alone, just in case the whole thing would backfire and – in a worst case scenario – if Jane wouldn't make it, Angela would then still be available.

She walked along the quiet, empty hallways. Jane had learned her client's schedule and daily routines. She knew where her target was and cursed herself for this knowledge. Her hand brushed over her grey hoodie, right over the spot where the gun was hidden.

A melody, chiming from the school's PA, signed the end of today's classes and immediately the halls were crowded with students, ideal for staying hidden in the masses. The brunette closed her eyes and wanted to run away. Her limbs started to tremble as she tried to regain control over them. She was so focused on it that Jane hadn't realized the other girl, who was heading towards her, deep in thoughts herself. They bumped into each other and Jane lost her balance, hitting the ground with a groan.

"Shit! Are you al-…"

Jane recognized that voice right away, because she hadn't forgotten it since that concert two months ago. Awestruck, she looked up and her gaze met with Elli's, who seemed to be as stunned as she was.

"…-right?"

Moments passed without one of both even moving a limb, until Jane noticed a movement behind Elli. A young woman with long blond hair and a blue feather-earring had left a classroom and gazed in their direction.

Green eyes locked with blue ones and Jane could've sworn that the client had smirked at her before turning around.

[Victoria]: _"Jane, what the fuck are you doing?! The target is moving and you're not. So, move that ugly ass of yours!"_

As ordered, Jane jumped up and wanted to pursuit her target, but a tight grip on her shoulder and loudly spoken "Hey!" made her turn around, where she had to face a pretty agitated Elizabeth.

"Okay, I don't know what the fucking hell is wrong with you, but I'm tired of this shit! First, you just leave me hangin' at that concert after we had so much fun and now you wanna ignore me? Is this some kind of a sick hobby of yours to behave like a giant asshole?!"

"E-Elli, I…" stuttered Jane, her body itching and about to get violent to free itself from the bluenette's grasp. But she fought with all her willpower. She didn't want to hurt Elli; wanted to apologize for her behavior. Yet, the inner struggling got harder, the voices of Victoria and Angela in her ear not helping the case.

[Victoria]: (agitated) _"Listen, you little cunt, I hope for you that this shit is part of your plan to kill that bitch or else…"_

[Angela]: (worried) _"Jane, what's wrong? C'mon, say something!"_

A tear rolled over her face as she realized that her conditioning began to take over again. She barely managed to whisper "I'm so sorry!" before she ripped herself from the other girl's grasp and followed her target.

[Victoria]: _"About time! Now head right and up the stairs, she should be there."_

Jane did as she was told to and headed upstairs. The building had become quiet now, since all students were probably on their way home. At the top of the staircase was a single door, leading to the roof. So, there was no escape for her target.

Taking one last look around, Jane drew her gun from under the hoodie and turned off the safety. The door opened with a soft _click _and cautiously, the young girl entered the roof. Sadly, she hadn't realized that Rachel Amber was already waiting for her right beside the entrance.

Before the brunette could even react, her armed hand got taken into a tight hold and pushed away, while the muzzle of a gun was pressed against her stomach, silencing the following shot.

A hot pain emerged from gunshot wound, making Jane gasp in agony and lose the grip on her weapon. For a moment, green and blue eyes glanced deeply at each other.

"I knew they would send someone," the blonde hissed. "Time to give 'em a message!"

Jane knew what this meant. She knew that her time had come. Maybe it was the right way, because it would end her life in slavery. But as she recalled everything that had happened with Elli and especially Angela, her instinct for survival kicked in.

Swiftly, the young brunette gripped Rachel's earring and ripped it off the earlobe. The blonde began to scream in pain and held her now injured ear with one hand, blood emerging between her fingers. Jane took the opportunity, pushed her opponent away and darted down the stairs, some shots impacting in the wall close to her.

"I'm gonna kill you with my bare hands for that, bitch!" chimed Rachel's yelled curse through the staircase.

Although the pain was almost unbearable and dizziness was engulfing her mind, Jane managed to reach the school's exit, leaving a slight blood-trail. Now in a trancelike state, because of the adrenaline and loss of blood, Jane just kept on running, gasping for air.

"Angela…Victoria…help!" she spoke into the com, but received no answer.

Eventually, she had reached a bus station and recognized how a girl with blue hair just embarked the bus.

"Elli!" Jane sighed upon seeing her last straw of hope and gathered every bit of remaining strength to reach the girl.

She made it just in time and stumbled into the bus. The bus driver just gave her an awkward frown as she swiped her partially blood-stained pay-card over the scanner. Almost about to collapse yet relieved, Jane wandered slowly along the seats and stopped as she stood right in front of the blue-haired punk.

"C-can I…can I sit down?" she asked with a weak voice, barely able to stand upright.

For a few seconds, Elli just stared at the heavy breathing girl, before she took her backpack off the other seat as a sign to sit down. But rather to sit down, Jane collapsed unconsciously onto the seat and the bluenette's lap.


	4. Chapter 4: The Cat

**Chapter 4: The Cat**

Her long fingernails tapped nervously on the surface of her luxurious desk, while Victoria was thinking. Thinking about the mess that had happened today. To her anger, she got always disturbed by Angela's sobs and sniffs.

"Oh for fucks sake, just shut the fuck up and stop bawling, you pathetic cunt!" the pixie-blonde yelled and jumped up, making Angela wince. "How could this happen, huh?!" she kept on shouting into the office, where most of the staff had been gathered. She walked over to Taylor, took her gun from the holster and waved it around the personal. "One of you fuckers talked and I'm gonna find out who it was! Has anyone of you lowlifes even the slightest idea how much it costs to train and condition a unique assassin like Jane?"

"Um…" began one of her accountants to say and got shot in the head right away. Another man behind him went down as well as the bullet, which had penetrated the first man's skull, impacted into his head, too. Everyone else around got splattered with blood, brain matter and other nasty parts, which caused most of those poor people to vomit.

"That was a rhetorical question, you little shits!" Victoria yelled again, and turned around with a groan, rubbing her temple. "Two months of planning," she now continued a bit more steadied, "went literally to shit, the Prescotts are pissed at me and question any further cooperation and on top of that, I lost my most capable assassin. So…" She turned towards her personal again. "I want to know, who of you blew the whistle. I guarantee a quick death for the one who did it and comes out right now or…" She points at Dr. Jefferson. "…I'll make that fucker a new science-pet for the dear doctor, and believe me, I'll find out, who it was! So, anyone?"

Silence. Nobody even dared to breathe. Until Victoria's phone chimed and broke this eerie quietness. With a groan of annoyance, Victoria picked up her phone from the desk and took the call.

"Chase, here!"

[Rachel]: _(joyful) "Hi, Vicky! How's it going?"_

Hearing that it was Rachel Amber, her nemesis and rival, Victoria groaned loudly and rolled with her eyes.

"Ugh, what do you want, Amber?"

[Rachel]: _"Oh, funny story, that! Today, someone tried to kill me. In your precious academy, I might add."_

"Well, seems like you suck as a teacher, as well. Too bad she didn't succeed!"

[Rachel]: _"She? How do you know it was a woman?"_

Internally, Victoria scolded herself for being too obvious. She literally just confessed that she was the one, who had sent the assassin.

"He, she…what-eff. Just a lucky guess."

[Rachel]: _(chuckles) "Oh Victoria, this was so cheap and pathetic! I know that it was you, who sent this little cunt. But, actually…I don't give a fuck about that. Send as much of your minions as you see fit, I'll ghost all of 'em!"_

"Then cut the crap and finally tell me what you want from me!"

[Rachel]: _"This brunette slut! I want her, alive!" _

For some moments, Victoria stayed quiet. She had been under the impression that Rachel had killed Jane and wanted to present her head now. But right the contrary was the case. Jane had escaped and nobody knew where she was. Maybe, Victoria could use this to her advantage.

"No can do, bitch, sorry!"

[Rachel]: _"Oh, you _will_ be sorry, Icky-Vicky. If you don't deliver me your little doggy, I'll make sure that my dad wipes the sewers of the outer rims with your ugly face!"_

Her grip tightened around the phone and teeth gritted against each other as her head became beet-red out of anger. She knew how powerful Rachel's father, the highest judge of the west coast, was. And sending an assassin after his daughter was merely suicide, considered he found out who did it. Yet, she still could use this situation for her advantage.

"Alright, you'll get her…"

[Rachel]: _"That's what I thought."_

"But I have to find her first. So, it could take some time."

[Rachel]: _"I'll give you a month, and that's a big curtesy from my side."_

"Oh lucky me," replied Victoria cynically, rolling with her eyes again and took over the conversation in order keep at least a bit dignity. "I'll call you once I have her. Now, fuck you, cunt!"

Before Rachel could reply anything, Victoria canceled the call and yelled, "Angela!", which made the young girl wince once more.

"Y-yes, mistress?" she stammered as her boss closed in and hissed in her face. "Go out there and find that little bitch!"

"B-but how?"

"I. Don't. Care!" Victoria shouted back. "Just use your fucking brain! Hospitals, hotels, hide-outs. Or, since you had your face in her cunt all the time, how about you hold your fucking nose in the air and follow her fishy stench! Now GO!"

Now being entirely intimidated, Angela just nodded under tears and walked out of the office, while Victoria yelled some more orders.

"The rest of you, fuck off and make yourself useful. Courtney, take care of that mess! And Taylor, come to my quarters, I need a freakin' massage!"

* * *

Angela was desperate and relieved at the same time. On one hand she was so happy that her beloved Jane was still alive, but on the other hand she didn't know how to find her.

From what she heard through the com, before Victoria had aborted the mission and shut off all com-traffic, Jane had been injured. So, the possibilities to find her by checking all hospitals or police-records are very high.

Sadly, Angela had no idea that things had become way more complicated.


	5. Chapter 5: The Watchdog

**Chapter 5: The Watchdog**

Two weeks later…

She felt weak and confused. Very slowly, her senses kicked back in. She felt pain, lots of pain, which told her that she was still alive. As Jane tried to move, a wave of hot agony emerged from her stomach and ran through her entire body, making her squirm and groan.

"She wakes up!" said a female voice.

"Step back!" said a male one, the latter unfamiliar to her.

"E-Elli?" Jane moaned weakly, trying to open her eyes. At first, everything was blurry, then she could make out dark shapes, which became clearer with every passing second. Eventually, after one last blink, Jane realized that she was staring down the barrel of a gun, held by a tall man with short-cut black hair and a moustache. Right beside him stood Elli, arms crossed and stern.

"Who are you?" asked the man with moustache and tightened the grip around the gun, which told Jane that he meant business.

"J-Jane. My name…"

"Jane who?" the man kept on pushing, intimidating Jane even more, until Elli sighed and rolled with her eyes.

"Geez, David, now stop flippin' your shit and give that gal some space, will ya?! She just woke up."

But David didn't lower the gun. "Elizabeth, she had a gunshot wound and a fake ID. I won't endanger our safety just because you trust her right away!"

"And you think waving a gun around in front of her face will make her more trustworthy?" the young girl countered, but received no answer. "You know what," she then continued and, to Jane's surprise, sat down beside the brunette, took her hands and put them around her throat, "if she's so dangerous then she has the chance now to strangle me. So," she then shifted her gaze to Jane, "Go ahead, kill me, you little killer-cutie!"

Overwhelmed by this entire act, Jane just froze on the spot, not knowing what to do, besides having a panic-attack. Luckily, Elli ended this whole situation by simply jumping up again.

"See, no mean bad-girl here! Just a gal, who probably was at the wrong time at the wrong place. Right, _Jane_?"

By speaking out her name more than over-clearly, Jane gazed into the bluenette's eyes very deeply with a frantically nodding. And it worked! Mumbling some curses into his moustache, David holstered his gun, but before he left, the tall man put some handcuffs on Jane's right hand and linked it with the metal frame of the bed. This time, however, Elli didn't object.

After her surrogate-father was gone, Elli waited for some minutes, her demeanor darkening more and more.

"Spill!" she commanded sternly, her arms crossed again. But Jane stayed quiet. "Alright," the punky girl eventually said as her patience was at an end. "You can go the fuck on and stay silent, but know this…" Elli headed towards the room door and just stopped one last time before leaving the room. "…whateverthefuck you did wasn't by the rules and I saved your sorry ass from the authorities. So, it would be more than just curtesy to at least tell _me _what's going on."

The door slammed shut and Jane was alone, having a lot of time to think.

#

'_Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.' _

For the last two weeks, these words dominated Angela's mind. For two entire weeks she was now looking for any evidence that would lead her to Jane, but so far, she had come up with…well, nothing. Hospital- and police records, morgues, not even the shabbiest back alley doctor had seen her.

Right now, she was sitting in front of her computer, watching the surveillance footage from inside and around the academy for the umpteenth time. Yes, Jane had survived and managed to get on a bus, but so far, she hadn't been able to figure out where she had left the vehicle. Angela knew that she had missed something. A detail. A glimpse of a hint.

She watched the footage once more. Took in every second. How Jane had entered the school. How she had slumped into this student. How she had followed the target. How she had ran away and reached the bus station. And again, nothing.

With an agitated groan, she took an already empty mug and tossed it against the wall, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. Burying her face in her cupped hands, Angela started to sob, big tears running down her face. She missed Maxine, not Jane, but Maxine. The shy, innocent girl she fell in love with. The girl she had spent so much time with; she loved to have sex with.

For almost thirteen years, they both had been inseparable, literally stuck together every day. Knew each other like siblings. The blonde had realized that something had changed inside Maxine. That she had become more thought- and doubtful. Ever since she had seen her with this blue-haired girl at the…

And then it hit her like a wrecking ball!

#

Due to some commotion, Jane slowly woke up. She still felt a lot of pain in her stomach, radiating through her entire body. Squirming and groaning she opened her eyes and saw Elli, standing in front of the bed with two plates in her hands.

"Wakey-wakey, sleepyhead! Gotcha some munch," she said with a smirk, handing her one of the dishes. Cautiously, the brunette raised and sat up, flinching a few times as her wound sent another wave of pain through her body.

"Thank you!" she replied quietly as she took the meal and placed it on her lap. Her stomach, entirely empty, grumbled loudly as she smelled the food.

"You haven't eaten in two weeks, so take it slowly!" Elli warned, sat down on a chair beside the bed and started to eat.

At first, Jane just stared at the pile of Porridge with bananas on her platter and whispered "Two weeks…" before she grabbed the spoon with her free hand and took one bite. Because of her still dry throat, she coughed and splattered the food over the bed.

"Shit!" hissed Elli and reached for a cup of water and gave it to Jane, who took some deep drafts. "You got pretty bad banged up there. I had to get you to a private doc, who owed David one and was able to stitch your guts back together. It was a close-call and you were unconscious for two weeks."

"Thank you," Jane then repeated, glimpsing at the bluenette. "For everything!"

"No prob, dude! Care to share now?"

Realizing that Elli would stay adamant to find out the truth, Jane thought about what and how much she could tell the punky girl, without admitting that she was a brainwashed psycho-killer. So, she had to come up with a half-true lie.

"I'm a courier for the Chase family. I was delivering something, but the deal went wrong and…well, y'know the rest."

"How come you work for the Chases?" asked Elli with a frown. She knew how snobby the Chases were and couldn't imagine someone like Jane working for them.

"I am an orphan, Elli. My parents got killed during the post-war political crisis. During and after the war the orphanages were almost bursting out of their seams and as soon as the big families had established their reign of power, the non-governmental organizations asked them for help. Some built more homes, some others…adopted the children as cheap workers or…worse."

"Worse?!"

"Slaves, dealers, couriers, lab rats, soldiers, a-assassins…" For a moment, Jane lost her voice as she recalled all the others, who had come and gone throughout the years. Young kids, who got killed in the name of creed and megalomania. "The Chases are evil, Elli. I…I don't wanna go back. I…"

"Fuck-dammit, the hell I will send you back!" said Elli with determination and embraces her friend tightly. "Fuck, if I would've known, I wouldn't have given you any shit! I'm sorry and I promise you that I'll keep you safe!"

Like many times for the last months, Jane cried again, but this time out of relief.

#

Because of still being exhausted, Jane had fallen asleep in Elli's arms, only to awake some hours later as she heard Elli and David, having an argument. Albeit she was still cuffed to the bed, she could hear them clearly.

"…can't let her stay here! She's property of the Chase family and…"

"Property?!" yelled Elli even louder in unbelief. "David, she's a human being, used by the Chases to do their dirty work! Fuck, it almost got her killed!"

"And we're going to get killed for sure if the Chases find out that we're hiding her! Elizabeth, I've sworn to protect you and…"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah, protect me bla-bla-bla…Listen! I'm NOT gonna send her into certain death, you got me? Dad would've done the same!"

"Your father's kind heart brought him a lot of enemies."

"But isn't it better to die for a noble cause, then to live and hide in shame?"

Silence…until the doorbell chimed. Sadly, this time, Jane couldn't understand what's going on.

#

They stared at each other. Stinging and unbending gazes locked. The argument had reached its climax as Elli eventually had triggered David's only weak spot, the honor of a real soldier. Had it worked? She wouldn't know since the doorbell rang and ended this verbal tug of war.

Sighing deeply to calm down a bit, Elli made her way to the front door and opened it. On the doorstep, stood a blond girl, hair bound into a bun, golden cross around her neck and a shy smile on her lips.

"Hello," she said with a kind voice, "I'm looking for a friend, who has gone missing. Have you seen her?" The blonde pulled out a photo of a brunette girl and handed it to Elli, whose eyes dilated for a short moment, before returning to a neutral demeanor.

"Nah, haven't seen her."

"A-are you sure? Some people saw her around here. Please, she…she means so much to me!"

"Are you her girlfriend?" asked Elli bluntly with a frown and received a shy nod. She was almost about to let her in, but then remembered what Jane had told her about other kids. Especially that some of them were trained as assassins or whatnot. "Sorry, dude, can't help ya. Maybe you should try the nearby hospital or the police."

"I-I already have, but they haven't seen her either. Please…" She handed her a small piece of paper. "…call me if you see her!"

The smaller blonde sounded heartbreaking desperate and, once more, Elli had to fight down the need to help and stay adamant. "Will do!"

"Thank you!" whispered the unknown girl and went on to the next house.

Slowly, the bluenette closed the door, knowing that things just got pretty serious. "They're looking for her," she said quietly, knowing that David stood close-by.

"We need to get her as far away as possible!"

Now the punky girl shifted her worried glance to her surrogate-father, who stood there with crossed arms. "But where? If they already pinpointed her here, then…"

"Out of the district or maybe even further. And we need to leave, too or they'll torture us until they know where she is. I can get us to the European Federation, but it won't be easy."

"So, Europe it is! Always wanted to see Paris."

"It won't be a vacation, Chloe!"

By using her true call-name, the bluenette immediately understood how dangerous the whole situation had become. "I'm gonna brief her and pack some stuff, 'kay!"

"Do that. I'll make the contact!" said David and left the house in a hurry, knowing that time was running out. He once had worked for the Chases as Security Council and already experienced how corrupt this and other families were. That had been the reason why he had got himself transferred to the guards. That, and the fact that Victoria Chase had been responsible for his best friend's death.


	6. Chapter 6: Fatal Flaw

**Chapter 6: Fatal Flaw**

A bit absently, Jane stared at the display on which a movie was shown. It was supposed to be a funny one, yet the brunette stayed serious, not even flinching with her lips. Beside her, Elli burst out into laughter, poking her arm with her elbow, while repeating the pointe.

Only an hour after her blue-haired friend had told her about the plan to run away to Europe, they had moved to a safe place in order to avoid the Chase family until everything for the travel would be prepped and ready. She knew that Angela was looking for her, a more than reasonable move from Victoria, considering that both girls had been a couple for two months. Yet, getting away was way more important to Jane than staying together with her girlfriend, because she knew that the blonde had already accepted her fate. So, trying to convince her to join them would bear such a high risk that it wasn't worth it. Maybe later, after they had settled in and had a safe place to retreat if everything went bad.

During those last few days in the hideout, Elli and Jane had become pretty close. Movie and game nights, cooking together, having long chats…it had been an awesome time. Yet, Jane knew that they both still had a lot of secrets from each other. Back in her old home, David had called Elli _Chloe_, and now she asked herself if this was probably her friend's true name. But most importantly, what other secrets were lying behind this name.

"Dude, that was a hilarious flick!" cheered Elli as she got up and stretched her limbs with a groan followed by a big yawn. "I don't know 'bout you, but I'm pretty busted."

Without a second thought, Elli just turned around and started to change into her pajama, which consisted of a plain t-shirt and some shorts. Already being drowsy and focused on her task at hand, Elli didn't really pay full attention to what Jane said.

"Chloe?"

"Yeah?" answered the bluenette and immediately froze, only wearing her shorts now. Slowly, she turned around, her eyes opened wide, and faced a stern looking Jane.

"I overheard David, calling you that. Is this your true name?"

"Well…kinda," spoke Chloe, scratching the back of her neck, "It's actually my first name and…uh…Elizabeth is my second. So…"

"I guess we all have our secrets, then," replied Jane, got up and closed in on Elli. "Maxine," she then said softly, earning a frown by the other girl.

"Uh…what?"

"That's my true name. The Chases never allowed us to use our real names." Jane then let her fingers brush over a big scar on the left side of Elli's chest and looked deeply into her eyes, making the bluenette shiver and inhale sharply. "And what's the secret behind this scar?"

"C-car crash, two years ago. Got myself a chunk of metal there. It missed my heart only by a few millimeters. I was lucky, my parents…not so much."

Jane heard the melancholy and grief in Elli's voice. She knew how it feels to have no parents. To have no one who keeps you safe and sound. It connected them both. Since she first met her at that concert two months ago, Jane had felt something special. Elli had somehow planted the seed of resistance against her neural conditioning and she was so grateful for that. And over the last days, this gratefulness had developed into more. Into a need for more contact.

"I'm so sorry!" she whiffed, cautiously tiptoed and leaned more in, until her lips met Elli's for a soothing kiss. It didn't last long and never was supposed to be, but before the brunette could even say something, her head got taken into a gentle embrace. Once more, their lips collided, but now it was more passionate.

While Elli let her hands ruffle through Jane's hair, the brunette kept on exploring her lover's body. Slight moans chimed through the small room, until Elli reluctantly wanted to break the kiss.

"Mmh…M-Maxine…"

"Yeah?" answered the smaller girl, breathing heavily and waiting for what Elizabeth had to say.

"Listen, if we do this, I want us to do it real. This means I want us to use our true names, okay? 'cause I'm so tired of this secrecy-shit!"

Nodding frantically, Maxine answered with a quiet "Okay!", before she planted another kiss on Chloe's lips to seal the deal.

Chloe backed away a bit and reached Maxine her hand with a wry smirk to make a proper introduction. "Okay, then. Chloe Elizabeth Price, at your service!"

With a loud gasp, Maxine stumbled backwards, her eyes dilated and her face pale from panic as the image of an unconscious girl with strawberry-blond hair, bloodied face and a piece of metal in her chest appeared in her mind, followed by the memories of how she killed the girl's parents.

Her hair long and strawberry-blonde instead of blue and short. Her face a bit less angular and her body smaller and less curvy. Plus, some blood smeared all over her beautiful face. Yes, it was her. Without any doubts. Right in front of her stood one of her first victims. The girl she had refused to kill; who had broken her neural conditioning for the first time.

"I'm so sorry!" whimpered Maxine as she took a few more steps back, Chloe trying to follow and touch her right away.

"Maxine, what's wrong?"

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, swatting the bluenette's hand aside. It was like the walls closed in on her. Like guilt was about to devour her. She needed to get away. She wanted to protect Chloe, yet staying with her loved one would just endanger her even more. Having made a decision, Maxine ran away, Chloe's calls behind her.

The streets of this part of the district were crowded, even during nighttime. She knew that the punk girl was following her, so she ran even faster, though her stomach hurt like crazy, and eventually managed to vanish in a crowd of people.

* * *

Angela felt desperate and angry. She had managed to find the blue-haired girl, even talked to her. And this bitch had lied right into her face. Two hours after she'd been there, a whole troop of guards had stormed the house, finding it without a living soul. But what Angela had found were traces of Jane's DNA. And since she couldn't imagine that her beloved Jane would avoid her deliberately, the young blonde suggested that she must had been kidnapped, which made her come to the conclusion that she had to kill everyone who was responsible for that.

The melody from her phone ripped her out of those hateful thoughts. She took the call and as she heard Jane's voice, her heart skipped a beat.

[Jane]: _"Angela? It's me, Jane."_

"Jane! Wh-where are you?! Are you okay?"

[Jane]: _"I'm fine. Listen, I wanna meet you. The café near the Chase-Monument in two hours. Come alone!"_

"Uh…yeah…but-…"

Before Angela could say anything else, the call got canceled. Yearning to see her loved one again, the blonde grabbed everything she needed and left in a hurry.

* * *

The vast place around the Chase-Monument, a big, golden statue of the three family-members, was crowded with better-situated people of the outer district, who had the money to buy something in the surrounding, expensive shops and stores. Additionally, there were some cafés scattered around the premise, offering caffeine and cake to those who could afford it.

As soon as Jane and Angela had had earned the privilege to leave the Chase's mansion and the inner district, they had found one particular café, which also sold tasty cakes and other sweets. Living a privative life under the firm hand of Victoria Chase, the two young girls had been yearning to finally taste something as good as cake. Since this day, Jane and Angela had made it a habit to visit the place once every week.

Cautiously and slowly, Jane walked through a mass of people and over a street, heading straight towards the café. As soon as she had reached her destination, she looked for Angela, but didn't see her. With a groan, she sat down and waited.

She used the time to think a bit more about every possible event that could happen, but also knew that it all could go from bad to worse.

"Jane!" chimed Angela's voice from close-by and as soon as Jane saw the blonde, she cautiously stood up again and greeted her with a smile. Not wasting a moment, Angela literally jumped at her girlfriend and embraced her tightly, making the brunette groan in pain.

"I missed you so much!" she spoke, and gazed deep into Jane's blue eyes while brushing over her cheek. "Where've you been?"

"Hiding," answered Jane with a weak voice, sitting down once again, Angela doing the same.

"Why? I was worried about you. Everyone thought you were dead and…"

"I wish it would've stayed this way!" interrupted the brunette sternly and sighed deeply as she gathered all strength to speak those words she had prepared for hours now. "Angela, I…I love you, I really do, but…"

Her, at first, happy demeanor faltering, the blond girl frowned at her girlfriend suspiciously. "But…?"

"Angela, I…" For another few seconds, Jane paused and summoned all the trust she had in Angela, hoping that it was enough. And to underline the seriousness, she gave the other girl a deep glare. "I wanna run away…with you."

Another bunch of seconds later, Angela started to chuckle dryly. "What?! Where you wanna go?"

Felling that she's not taken seriously, Jane got infuriated, almost yelling her words of desperation. "Europe. The Empire of China. The Japanese Protectorate. Anywhere, but here. I'm serious, Angela! Please…let us go away and live a normal life…together!"

To underline her words, the brunette wanted to take a hold of Angela's hand, but the blonde just pulled it away and stood up.

"No!" she said, "The Lord's work is not done, yet! Running away from our righteous duty would be a sin!"

"Your _righteous work_ almost got me killed, Angela!" yelled Jane and immediately, the other girl took a step towards her, an almost insane glare in her eyes as she stretched out her hand to brush the freckled girl's cheek.

"But you survived. The Lord saved you, because your destiny is not fulfilled, yet. The cleansing must go on!" She intensified her glare, putting some more pressure into her words. "You'll now come with me and then we'll be together again. We will cleanse the earth from the sinners and love each other until our fate awaits us and we'll eventually get called into the heavenly kingdom to prepare for the final battle of Armageddon!"

Being intimidated by the madness of her girlfriend, poor Jane just nodded, still fearing for Chloe's life. Slowly, she got up, ready to follow Angela into a continuous life of murder and slavery, until another familiar, yet at this moment, unwanted voice chimed.

"Maxine!"

"No!" gasped Jane as she turned around and saw how Elli emerged from the crowd and ran towards her. At first, the bluenette's glare was totally fixed on Jane until she recognized the blonde beside her and stopped in her tracks, hissing "Shit!"

"Oh, what a surprise! Praised be the Lord for bringing me the greatest sinner of them all!" After the blonde made a sign, two broad men with cybernetic implants emerged from the nearby crowd and took Chloe into a tight hold.

"Hey! What the fuck?! Lemme go, you fucking assholes!" yelled Chloe, flailing around with her legs, but to no avail.

"NO!" pleaded Jane with watery eyes, "She saved me. Please, Angela, leave her alone!" But the insane smirk she received, told her that her voice just met deaf ears.

Knowing that what happened there was family business, the other people around simply ignored what was going on, fearing for their life if they would intervene. No one would help them.

"Come, my love! Everything will turn out okay, as soon as we're home!" said Angela and guided Jane towards a close-by black van by flinging an arm around her slender shoulders.

* * *

The drive to Chase manor was mostly in silence. Only once or twice, Angela had spoken to Jane and had tried to convince her that everything was okay. Well, for the brunette girl it wasn't. Actually, she felt pretty bad and it didn't get any better as they were standing in Victoria's tremendous office.

Besides her, Chloe and Angela, also Courtney and Taylor stood on the expensive carpet and waited for the powerful woman to show up, which happened ten minutes after their arrival.

"Jane!" she called out loud with wide open arms as she closed in on the smaller, freckled girl, and embraced her tightly, which sent a shiver of disgust over her spine. Luckily, it was broken fast enough, but instead she had to endure the blonde's chiding glare. "Now, in what dirty hole have you been hiding? Oh wait, lemme guess…" She then closed in on Elli, scanning her from head to toe and started to touch her body. "Not bad, Jane! Silk skin, nice tits, firm ass and I bet…a drippin' wet, young cunt."

Feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable by those touches and teasing words, Elli hissed an angry "Fuck off, bitch!" and receives a hit on the back of her neck by Courtney.

Jane hissed a quiet "Stop it!" which in her turn earns her a smack in the face by Victoria.

"I will stop, when I see fit! And I'd love to fuck this magnificent piece of cunt right in front of your eyes, just to show you your rightful place! Now…" The powerful woman snipped with her fingers and immediately got a gun reached by Taylor, and then held it right in front of Jane. "…it's time for your punishment. Kill her!" said Victoria nonchalantly, bobbing her head in Elli's direction.

Her eyes dilating in shock, the blue-haired girl shifted her gaze between Jane and the gun, gasping a loud "What?!"

"C'mon Jane, don't be so modest! You did it before, now you can do it again," the pixie-blonde cooed, "Just take the gun and pull the trigger. Or do you want me to command you?"

Her lips started to tremble and tears were running down her face as Jane whimpered quietly "Victoria, please, she's innocent! Please, don't make me do this!"

With a sigh of disappointment, Victoria took a step back, saying "Alright. You want it the hard way. Red D-…"

She was just about to give the order, as her personal com on her desk chimed and her secretary's voice sounded.

"_Miss Chase, a certain Miss Amber is here to see you._"

"Ah!" she remarked and went to her desk in a fast pace. "Send her in, Marge!"

The main door swung open and Rachel Amber walked into the office like she'd own the place. Both woman hadn't even spoken a word, yet everyone could feel the coldness between guest and host.

"Rachel, how pleasant to see you! Say, is it some new fashion to run around with a split earlobe?" spoke Victoria with as much cynicism as possible, but the venomous reply followed right away.

"Damn, Vicky, is it still fashion to look like a cheap Nazi-whore from the 1940s?" Slowly she let her gaze wander around the room and frowned. "Am I crashing a party or are you about to have an orgy?"

Instantly, the short-haired woman's superior demeanor faltered as she let out a snobby snort and gritted with her teeth. "Whateff…let's talk business! Here she is, alive and breathing as agreed and that's as far as it goes, 'cause I'm so tired of your ugly fuckface!"

Although she was supposed to be frightened by Victoria's threatening words, Rachel just leaned unimpressed against the big desk and started to giggle before she burst out into loud laughter, which agitated her opponent even more.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh…oh nothing, I'm actually shitting my panties right now, though your plan has two fatal flaws."

"And these are…?" asked Victoria, crossing her arms in annoyance and still feeling superior, until Rachel gave her a vicious smirk.

"Oh, firstly, you always underestimated me, which let you believe that I would simply walk into such a plump trap of yours. And secondly…"

It took only the snap of a finger to destroy Victoria's megalomaniac fantasies and to let hell break lose.

Courtney drew her gun and shot Taylor in the head, the explosive round turning it into a bloody mess of brain matter, bone splinters, teeth and blond hair. The deceased bodyguard hadn't even touched the ground as all side doors blew open with some loud explosions and a bunch of up to their teeth armed, masked man entered the office.

Everybody, who wasn't involved in that attack, hit the ground and took cover, hoping that it would finally be over. Eventually, the whole commotion was over and only Rachel's snickering chimed through the room as she walked towards her nemesis and kneeled down right in front of the on the ground lying woman, who stared hat her with an agitated glare.

"Oh Vicky, you should see your dumb face right now. All 'Oh my god, what happened? I got my ass fucked by Rachel Amber!'" mocked Rachel and moved on to Angela and Jane.

"Well, well! So, you two are the most badass assassins in town, huh? Damn, if I wouldn't know any better, I'd think you two are part of one of those religious 'I stay a virgin 'til kingdom come' fuckers. Oh, by the way…" she then said and punched Jane right in the face. "This was for ripping off my earring. Be glad that I need you or else I'd strap you behind a car and drive the entire outer district up and down until you'd be nothing more than a red skid mark on the pavement!"

Last but not least on her tour-of-victims was Elli. "Look at that! Guess, today must be my lucky day. Elizabeth Madsen, my student and former lover!"

"We had a deal!" now one of the armed men said and took off his mask. It was David Madsen, who walked up to his surrogate daughter and helped her to get up. "I get your men inside and you let me and Elizabeth go. I did my part, now it's up to you to hold your side of the bargain!"

"Well, gee…" the blonde spoke, suddenly pulled out a gun and shot David right in the forehead. "I'd say, no."

Entirely shocked and partially sprinkled with some red droplets in her face, Elli had to witness how her surrogate father went down, a smoking hole in his head. "D-David!" she whispered with a trembling voice, shedding some tears. But Rachel didn't care.

"Oh c'mon, Elizabeth, you hated this dick. How often have you bawled about how unfair he treats you? How many times did you come into my arms when he had given you shit, huh?"

"He was the closest thing I had to a family," replied Elli, sniffing as she fought down her grief.

"Oh yeah, family…" Rachel then said with some amusement, walking back to Jane. "Don't worry, you're gonna be back together with them, soon. But for now, how about I tell you who killed them, Chloe…Elizabeth…Price?"

While Chloe was entirely taken aback, Rachel just snickered again and wanted to brush with her thumb over the bluenette's cheek, but never got the chance as the latter turned her head away. Not that it bothered the blonde in the slightest. And her mood got even better as she witnessed the reaction of Victoria as well.

"You probably wonder how I know that this is the daughter of the once wealthiest man of the western hemisphere. Well, my dad and the Price's had been pretty close, even shared the same stupid ideals of democracy 'n' shit. But while my dad chose to act in the shadows as a judge, William Price started an open resistance against the big families. Eventually, it got him killed. Yet, this sneaky motherfucker made sure that his fortune would be safe and sound in case of his and his wife's death. Waiting, under the stewardship of my father, for his daughter to turn eighteen and take over the vast empire. But now that my dad hasn't anything to say anymore, all this power will be transferred to me, which would – coincidently – make me the most powerful bitch on this very continent." She then closed in on Victoria once more, hissing into her face. "I could've had this two years ago, but you fucked it up. Forced me to keep my disguise as a kind-hearted teacher upright. And I hated this so much! Your job was so simple yet important and you sent in a girl to fuck it up!"

As Rachel's finger pointed at Jane, the brunette's gaze dropped. Scarcely, she managed to glimpse at Chloe, who looked at her with an in unbelief shaking head while even more tears were drawing wet lines over her face.

"But…" Rachel then continued as she walked over to Victoria's desk and slumped down onto her seat, resting her feet on the desktop. "…I was patient and waited, even had my fun with that little punk-bitch and now everything came to terms."

"This isn't over yet, Amber!" hissed Victoria back as she slowly stood up, several guns following her movement. "Red Doe, Dark Angel! Kill her!"

Every gun was now pointed at the two young girls, who were standing at their spot, stiff and not moving a limp.

"Red Doe, Dark Angel! I said, kill Rachel Amber!" repeated Victoria with more effort, but once more nothing happened. And it was again Rachel's loud chuckle that drew everyone's attention on her.

"Aww, what's the matter, Vicky? Aren't ya little doggies listening to you? Well, let's see what I can do. Red Doe, kill Victoria Chase!"

Now, Jane started to move again, saying "Yes, mistress!" She retrieved the gun from Taylor's body and went towards Victoria, the pistol clenched in her trembling hands.

Now being the one, facing one of her best assassins herself, Victoria's eyes widened in fear while she took some steps back, only to get pushed back by one of the masked men.

Jane stood in front of her target, her demeanor emotionless, her eyes, however, radiating rage. Still, Victoria tried to fend off the inevitable.

"Jane, I gave you everything. I saved you from that orphanage. I…"

"All you did was to use me. You saved no one. You just took advantage of poor, parentless kids and enslaved them. They all suffered and died for your madness and business."

"I GAVE ALL OF YOU LOWLIFES A MEANING TO LIVE!"

"Yes," Jane eventually said quietly and raised the gun, "and mine is killing."

Victoria hadn't had the chance to counter another word as a bullet penetrated her chest and pierced her heart. Her lifeless body hit the ground, but Jane wasn't done, yet. She took aim and emptied an entire magazine into her former mistress' head, turning it into a pile of red ooze.

While Angela had watched the entire scene without a flinch, Chloe's stomach turned upside-down from this horrible sight and made her vomit all over the expensive carpet. Rachel on the other hand just clapped with her hands in amusement.

"Wow, what a show! I always thought you bitches were conditioned for plain killing, but this drama…this tragedy as you fucked her up. Damn, looks like Jefferson hadn't told me everything as I let him fuck me. Well, not that it matters. He built in the overwrite sequence and did his job like I asked him to. Now…" Taking a piece of chocolate from Victoria's private stash on the desk, Rachel signed at Chloe. "Just finish the job and kill that cunt, too!"

"Yes, mistress!" answered Jane, took a full clip from Taylor's body, reloaded the gun and now faced her friend.

"Maxine…" Chloe whimpered quietly, knowing that her life was about to end. For a long moment, both gazed at each other, sadness meeting merciless. Jane raised the gun once more and took aim at Chloe's head. And then, something changed. From on second to another, the brunette's glare turned sad as well.

A small twitch was everything needed to change the bullet's destination, letting it impact into Courtney's skull right behind Chloe. Before everybody else could even react, Jane dashed forward, pushed the bluenette to the ground and picked up the other dead bodyguards gun.

Now dual-wielding, Jane started to shoot at the surrounding men, killing them one by one with headshots and avoiding to get shot by doing somersaults, backflips or using a hit man's body as human shield. Enemy by enemy fell, while Rachel had taken cover behind the desk, trying to place a shot as well.

Still awaiting orders, Angela stood in the middle of this deathly chaos, not caring that bullets were just missing her by an inch.

Not being able to hit the well-trained assassin, Rachel growled loudly and decided to focus on the one thing, keeping her away from limitless power. She took aim on the on the floor lying blue-haired girl. But before she could squeeze the trigger, Jane got between shooter and target and shot Rachel in the shoulder, letting her drop the gun and scream out in agony.

Hiding behind the desk now and holding her arm, Rachel yelled "Dark Angel, kill those bitches!" her lips forming a mad smirk.


	7. Chapter 7: Last Stand

**Chapter 7: Last Stand**

A jerk went through her body as Rachel's yelled order had reached Angela's ears. She knew what she had to do right now. Who she had to kill. Still, the deep feelings of love for her beloved Maxine let a hint of resistance creep through her mind, which let her remain in her spot. Additionally, the blonde managed to turn her head towards her targets, whiffing a faint "Run!" before struggling down her urge for killing would become impossible.

Jane – already aiming at Angela, but also not wanting to kill her – got the gist and nodded. She pulled Chloe onto her feet and ran with her out of the office. Their destination: the service elevator.

Swiftly, the brunette entered the access-code on the keypad and only a few seconds later the metal doors slid open.

"C'mon!" said Jane, softly pushing Chloe inside. Right away, she hit the button for the basement, making the slide doors close right in time before they got hit by a barrage of projectiles.

With a sigh of relief, the brunette relaxed a bit, but immediately got grabbed by Chloe, who pushed her against the wall of the elevator and pressed a gun against her chin, which she had probably picked up as she had still been lying on the ground.

"Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger and scatter your fucking brain throughout the cabin!" hissed the bluenette right in Jane's face, who, however, stayed calm.

"Not in a million years I deserve your mercy or forgiveness, and I wouldn't even blame you if you'd kill me right away for what I've done. Yet, I ask you to wait, because I'm our only chance to get out of here."

With a growl, Chloe released the other girl and took some deep breathes to calm down again. "Just FYI," she eventually spoke, "as soon as we're outta here, we're done!"

"I-I understand," confirmed Jane, her gaze dropping in sorrow. "But believe me that I'm sorry for what I've done!"

Chloe's reply was just a simply scoffed, "Yeah, whatever."

Then, a soft melody indicated that they had reached their destination. The doors glided open again and instantly, Jane brought her gun up and checked the ahead lying hallway.

"Clear! Follow me!" she said and cautiously moved forward, Chloe right behind her.

"Where are we going? Shouldn't we like…y'know, leave instead of going into the lion's den?" asked the bluenette after they had passed some crossing floors.

"Down the hall is a big storage room. There we'll find an entrance to a secret tunnel, that'll bring us to the waterfront. From there, you can catch a ship and leave."

"Okaaay…sounds like a plan. Let's…"

As a loud scream of agony chimed through the hallways, Chloe and Jane stopped right away. But while the blue-haired girl was freaked out, the brunette's demeanor just darkened.

"Uh, Maxine…wh-what the fuck was that?!"

"Jefferson!" was the, in disgust, spoken answer and right away, Jane moved right at the next intersection. Once more a scream sounded. This time it was louder and originating from a close-by door.

Cautiously, both, Jane and Chloe, spied through the window of said door, witnessing how Dr. Jefferson was sitting in front of a display, while a girl was placed on a big chair. From what Jane saw, the girl probably wasn't older than 10 years. Various cables and tubes lead from her shaved head into a machine, which was linked to Jefferson's computer.

Once more the poor girl screamed, her eyes wide open and her face grimaced in pain while her body was shaken by cramps. Eventually, the crying died and the body went limp. Another screen showed that her heart as well as her brain activity had flat lined. She was dead, another victim of an insane doctor.

Jane recalled the pain. The countless sessions she had to go through as a child. Hours of agony. Numerous sleepless nights. Hundreds of dead clients. Jefferson had caused a lot of pain and now it was time to put an end to this.

The tall man was just about to dump the fresh corpse into the waste chute for cremation, as Jane pushed open the door and shot Jefferson straight in the knee, the projectile almost severing the lower leg.

With a loud cry, he went down, holding his injured limb. Clearly in shock, he gazed at the brunette assassin, immediately saying "Chrysalis!"

Jane froze on the spot, not able to move even her finger. But she fought it, she fought her conditioning, which let her entire body tremble.

"Undo what you just did to her!" yelled Chloe, pointing her gun at Jefferson, who had raised his hands as a sign, that he surrendered.

"I can't. It's her failsafe. Once activated, she's nothing more than a living statue, waiting for death."

Although, the bluenette had sworn to herself to hate Jane forever, she felt pity for her. She realized that Jane had been nothing more than a pawn in a sick game of power. An innocent victim.

Sadly, her deep thoughts and inner struggle distracted her so much that she hadn't even realized how Jefferson had grabbed a scalpel and wanted to throw it at her. But as Jane's loud scream sounded, he froze in fear, because he knew that she had just broke her neurologic conditioning. It got even more evident for him as his body was pierced by twenty high-explosive rounds, which turned his upper body literally inside-out. All that remained was another bloody corpse and a heavy breathing, tears shedding Jane.

Gulping down another surge of vomit, Chloe tried to avoid looking at the bloody mess and instead touched Jane's shoulder. "Jane, we…uh, we should leave."

"Maxine," the brunette whispered back, "M-my name's Maxine, not Jane."

"You finally killed him," chimed Angela's voice from behind. Both, Maxine and Chloe spun around, guns up and ready, but the blonde just stood in the doorframe and gazed at the pile of blood, flesh and bones.

"Angela?" said Maxine, her finger squeezing the trigger of her pistol, unsure if her girlfriend had finally broken the conditioning or was still a threat.

"Salvation!" she just spoke, closed her eyes and started to pray.

Unsure what to do with this, Chloe just stared at that kind of eerie scenery, not knowing what else to do, until Maxine grabbed her shoulder and signed the bluenette to follow her through another door in the back of the laboratory. Behind it was a storage room full of medical equipment and machinery.

"The other storage is right behind this. So, let's mo-AARGH!"

Maxine screamed out in pain as a shot blared through the room and her shoulder got penetrated by a bullet. Lucky for her, it wasn't an explosive one.

Aware of the situation, Chloe pulled the injured girl further into the room and behind a big machine, taking cover.

"_The Lord spoke to me, Maxine!" _echoed Angela's full of madness dripping voice throughout the rather dimly lit room. "_He told me that you're a sinner, because you're helping this girl!_"

Shaking of the vail of darkness that was clouding her sight for a moment, Maxine fought down the pain and looked around. She definitely needed medical attention and luckily, they were in a storage room full of medical supplies. More than once she had been here as a child to help out the doctor during his experiments, unwillingly.

"Cover me!" the brunette whispered to Chloe and ran to the next shelve, retrieving some Nano-Band-Aids and disinfectant.

Signing Chloe to follow her, both girls sneaked further into the room, staying low. After they had reached another hiding spot, Maxine took off her hoodie and ripped open the sleeve of the shirt.

"_Come out, come out, wherever you are!"_

Not wanting to risk a sound, the brunette showed Chloe quietly, step-by-step, how to treat her wound. As the disinfectant flowed through the wound, Maxine embraced Chloe tightly and groaned into her shoulder, sighing in relief as the intense pain had finally abated. The Nano-Band-Aid sealed the injury and killed the pain. In less than 24 hours, this wound would be entirely healed, but until then it was weak spot.

Using the opportunity to have access to such expensive medical equipment, Maxine repeated the procedure with her stomach wound as well.

"_I loved having sex with you," _spoke Angela once more, _"It felt so good! Way better than every other client. How about you kill that sinful bitch and we both have one last moment together?"_

Now being patched up again, Maxine checked her gun, signed Chloe to move to a new spot and planted a surprising kiss on her cheek. After she was sure that her friend was safe, the brunette assassin took one last deep breath.

"Katie?" she yelled, waiting for an answer, which she immediately received.

"_Have you done as I said?"_

"No, and I won't! Listen, I want you to fight it, Katie! The Lord hasn't spoken to you. It was Rachel Amber, the devil himself! Fight the devil, Kate!"

A frightening, insane chuckle sounded. Maxine could hear that Angela's voice came closer.

"_God…Devil…The Lord…Lucifer…they're all the same to me. I hear their voices. They told me what to do and I, as their loyal servant, am gonna fulfill their biddings!"_

On the other end of the room, Chloe had reached the door, but struggled with herself to leave without Maxine. Yet, she wasn't sure if she waited because she cared about the brunette or because she simply didn't know where to find that secret passage.

"_I know what you're trying to do, Maxine. You talk to me, because you want me to follow you and not this whore, but tell you what…"_

Again, silence occurred and Chloe felt a shiver running over her spine. Then, the click of a cocking gun chimed, making the bluenette freeze as she additionally felt the cold steel of a barrel against her temple.

"…I found her anyway!" Angela's smug smile wasn't lacking any insanity as she delightfully squeezed the trigger. Only Maxine's loud scream and the following tackle saved Chloe's life.

Both assassins were now rolling over the ground, their guns getting lost in the process, until they came to a halt, struggling and fighting. Angela managed to pick up one of the pistols that had been close-by and wanted to use it. But Maxine swatted away her hand, yet, nonetheless, a shot broke, followed by Chloe's cry of pain.

Chloe had been hit, but her fate remained unknown to Maxine. Yet, it was enough to make her gather all strength to beat the gun out of her opponent's hand and to place a punch in her face.

Eventually, and due to Maxine's injuries, Angela received the upper hand rather quickly, but her enemy wasn't giving up, right away.

"C'mon, Katie, that's not you! Fight it!" yelled Maxine as she felt that her wounds were handicapping her too much, making defeat inevitable.

Madness had now completely overtaken the blond assassin as she tried to overcome her conditioning, letting her insanely giggle once more as she broke her ex-girlfriend's defense and gave her a head-butt. Being dazed and confused, Maxine stopped struggling for a moment, which Angela used to pull the necklace from her neck.

„Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." she began to recite, breathing heavily, and unfolded the nano-string.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

She was about to let it sink onto Maxine's neck, but the brunette brought her arms up again and grabbed Angela's wrists tightly. A new struggle about life and death inflamed between them, which Maxine was about to lose.

"Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;"

The sharp string closed in, more and more, almost touching the skin of Maxine's neck.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

"A-…"

Out of a sudden, Kate got grabbed from behind and tugged off the brunette. It was Chloe who had just saved the murderer of her parents. But now, the bluenette was in even more danger, as she fought a fully trained assassin. And all it took to seal her fate was a punch in the left side of her belly, where the bullet had hit her.

Screaming and whimpering, Chloe curled up into a fetal position, hands clenched on her wound.

"May your soul burn in the eternal flames of hell!" spoke Angela and positioned the string around the punk-girl's neck. All it needed now was a slight pull to sever the head from her body.

BANG!

The golden necklace fell to the ground as all strength left her. Slowly and with, in shock dilated, eyes, Angela turned her head, seeing Maxine standing there, gun in her hand. But her demeanor wasn't emotion- or merciless, like when she had killed Victoria or Jefferson, no. This time, Maxine shed tears.

Since they had been little children, Kate and Maxine had been spending their life together. They had played together, whenever they had the chance to. They had comforted each other, when times had been rough. During all those years they had been like siblings, which had eventually peaked into more a few months ago. Maxine loved Kate and while her conditioning had broken down more and more over the years, Kate's had driven her into insanity.

With trembling lips and dripping tears, Maxine watched how Kate's lifeless body slowly crumbled to the ground. Chloe had been injured, yes. But right now, all the brunette could think of was her late companion and girlfriend. She closed in with small steps, sobbing more and more as she looked into the peaceful demeanor of the dead blonde. She kneeled down and tenderly combed through her hair, whiffing softly "I'm so sorry!" before she placed one last kiss on her lips and added "I love you!"

Touched by this moment and feeling even more pity for her friend, all of Chloe's remaining hate towards Maxine abated entirely. She even overcame the pain of her injury and embraced her soothingly from behind, whispering "I'm sorry, Maxine!"

Wiping the nose with the back of her hand, Maxine shifted her gaze to the golden necklace and picked it up.

"I swear that I'll kill each and every one of these bastards!" she spoke in anger, turned around and looked sternly into Chloe's eyes. "Please, promise me that you'll continue your father's work! Promise me that we'll make them pay for what they've done to us!"

"Yeah," confirmed Chloe with a nod, grabbing the brunette's hand tightly. "Let's bail and make 'em pay!"

She was about to get up again as a unbearable pain drove through her body, making her groan and fall back on her knees. Swiftly, Maxine examined the wound and gathered everything she needed. Unfortunately, the bullet hadn't pierced through her body, but got stuck.

"I need you to be fully aware when we make our escape, so I can't give you any hard painkillers. Here…" She reached the bluenette a pack of cloths, "Bite on it, if the local anesthetic doesn't help."

Fear in her eyes, but nodding in determination nonetheless, Chloe took the fabric into her mouth and braced herself for the upcoming improvised surgery.

As the scalpel cut through her flesh, she didn't feel a thing, but as Maxine searched for the projectile inside her belly, the bluenette groaned into the cloth, her body writhing in agony. Luckily, the bullet was quickly found and the wound patched up in merely a few minutes. Still, Chloe was very exhausted from the procedure.

Already having experienced such situations before and knowing the pain, Maxine took her friend into a soothing embrace, petting her back tenderly.

"You did it!" she said, giving her a small peck on the forehead. "C'mon, we need to go!"

* * *

The vast storage room right behind the medical supply room was only dim-lighted. Shelves filled with crates and goods were rising up to the ceiling and automated fork lifter were scattered everywhere. In the center, was a big loading area with a giant transport elevator leading directly to the surface.

Said elevator came to live right before Maxine and Chloe had the chance to pass it, making them hide behind a stack of metallic crates. Additionally, the main door behind them got opened as well and several stomping boots could be heard.

Knowing that they were caught, Maxine shoved Chloe into a small gap between two crates, following right away. It was very claustrophobic and both pressed each other very close together as several guards walked pass.

Audibly, the elevator came to halt and even more troops could be heard. From what Maxine had learned, it were now more than fifty men, probably everyone armed to the teeth and looking for them, which got more evident as Rachel Amber's authorial voice echoed through the hall.

"_Spread out and bring me those bitches, dead or alive, I don't give a fuck! And secure all exits, they mustn't escape!"_

Now, the situation was more than critical. In order to reach the secret entrance to the escape tunnels, both, Maxine and Chloe, had to sneak pass more than fifty heavily armed guards, which were already sweeping the entire area.

With every wasted minute, the chances of getting caught were growing higher and higher, and their current position wasn't the best for a gunfight. So, Maxine knew that the only way to somehow get out of this mess alive was to bring the fight to them.

"Chloe," she whispered, "I'm gonna distract them. As soon as the shooting starts, make your way to the exit. Shelve 21-09. You'll get there by following this way. Just type 2-1-9 into the keypad and go all the way through the tunnel, until you've reached the next door. Type the code into the present keypad again to clear the outside of the exit, which is probably guarded by Rachel's men. And whenever you see someone who's not me, shoot! Got it?"

"Maxine…" Chloe tried to contradict, but got silenced by a soft peck on her lips.

"There's no other way. But I promise that I'll do everything to be together with you again! Okay?"

Having now no other choice than to nod and to agree with the plan, Chloe embraced Maxine tightly, before she broke the hug and left their hiding place.

* * *

The plan was simple, yet hard to master. Causing a distraction could easily be done by shooting around like a maniac and kill as much enemies as possible. But in this case, Maxine had to make sure that Chloe wouldn't meet any guards on her way to the tunnel entrance, and the only chance to ensure that, is to reduce the possibility that any enemies would come across the young punky girl. And this meant, silently killing as much of them as possible before starting a shootout.

She met her first victims not far away from hers and Chloe's hiding spot as they were scanning every gap between the crates.

Two guards. One checking the gaps, the other one covering his back. Unfortunately for them, Maxine had already snuck past and was now approaching from the other direction. Kate's nano-string necklace came quite in handy to get rid of unwanted people silently.

The first guard lost his head quickly, his blood flowing out of his neck in little fountains while his head hit the floor. Due to this sound, his partner became aware of the situation right away, forcing Maxine to end this fast. The sling had been just halfway over his head as the brunette pulled on it. Easily the guardsman's skull gut cut in half, which ended his life very quickly as well.

Two down, way more to go. And the chances that someone might find these corpses were pretty high, hiding them because of the bloody mess impossible. She needed a better strategy than taking them out one-by-one.

As Maxine searched the corpses of the two recently deceased, she realized that one of them had a scoped and silenced M44-EM electromagnetic rifle, converted to be used as a DMR.

Having a new plan, the young assassin took the rifle, plus some batteries and ammunition and climbed up one of the vast shelves, always being cautious to stay hidden in the shadows. She took position and lied down on the highest spot, where she could oversee the loading area and most of the enemies between the other shelves.

Engaging the recon-mode of the hi-tech scope, Maxine marked every target, which's were now highlighted and their location shown on a small digital map in the corner of the sight. She took her time to make it right, watched the movements of the guards and made a plan in which sequence she should shoot them. There were a lot of uncertainties, for example still concealed opponents, but the chance to get caught rose with every second, so she took aim at her first target. A poor guy, who thought, it would be a good idea to take break all alone.

The crosshair hovered over his head. Measuring distance and environmental parameters, the scope's computer calculated the projectile's trajectory and adjusted the sight. Maxine took a deep inhale, released two-third of the air and then held her breath. After a faint adjustment, she slowly squeezed the trigger.

Only a very quiet electrical crackle sounded as the projectile was send on its way. A fraction of second later, the 12.6 mm bullet had cracked open the guardsman's head.

Her next victims were a search party of three men. After she had shot the guard, who had covered the group's back, the second one fell right after he had turned towards his dead comrade. And the third one hadn't even noticed that his other two companions were already dead.

This pattern continued thrice, until all visible search parties had been terminated. Nineteen men dead, without being detected. Then it was time to move her activities towards the men, scattered around the loading area. Sadly, Rachel didn't seem to be among them. But time was running out, so she needed to act!

First, she took down the greatest threats, which were marksmen, who could easily spot and shoot at her efficiently. Then just random targets. Of course, now that she was shooting at a crowded enemy, her actions weren't staying undetected. Orders were shouted, guards took cover and spied the surrounding area for the shooter. The chances to get spotted became higher with every second, so Maxine already planned to make her escape during the panicky chaos, until she heard someone yelling, "Hey, come outta there!"

Gasping, the young assassin looked straightly down from her position, seeing a guard aiming with his rifle directly into Chloe's hiding-spot. She dropped the DMR, ran along the shelve and jumped.

Bones cracked and sinews ripped loudly as Maxine impacted feet first on the unaware guard's shoulders, rerouting the remaining kinetic energy by making a roll over the floor. She came to a halt a few feet away and looked over her shoulder back to the corpse. Behind it stood Chloe, her face pale and her hands trembling, clearly in shock.

But there was no time to rest. Immediately the brunette assassin jumped up, grabbed the dead man's guns, ammunition and tactical vest and lead Chloe further.

"Keep going! Don't stop!" said Maxine, and then turned left in direction of the loading area, leaving Chloe on her own once more.

* * *

Chloe ran for her life. She knew that a lot of people were after her. Her gunshot wound started to hurt again and she was merely limping than running, getting weaker with every step. Eventually, she had reached shelve 21, now she only had to find place 09. Unfortunately, two of Rachel's men were guarding said spot.

Gunshots could now be heard in the distance, echoing through the vast room. Chloe knew that Maxine was giving them hell and hoped that the two guards would leave and help their comrades, but it didn't happen. Both remained in their place, not even flinching.

"Dammit!" she muttered with gritted teeth and asked herself if she should just wait for Maxine to arrive and take care of those men. But as the gunfire got heavier and now way bigger caliber and even some explosions chimed in, Chloe made the decision to take care of this matter on her own.

She readied her gun, closed her eyes, took some deep breathes and then began to walk straight towards the guards.

Her hand was shaking and her mind a boiling chaos of pure panic, ready to erupt. Chloe had made it halfway to the guardsmen as one of them spied her.

Quickly, she raised the pistol and sent a barrage of bullets towards those men, who got hit several times, before they even had the chance to raise their weapons.

Her magazine empty, Chloe stood in front of the two bloodying bodies. One of them was still alive, squirming under his pain.

"Y-you cunt…I-I'm gonna…"

Totally freaked out and panicky, Chloe picked up the other guard's assault rifle and shot the still living guy in the head before he could draw his sidearm.

With shaky hands, she typed the code into the inconspicuous keypad. It clicked as the secret door unlocked and slid open, revealing the tunnel behind it. One last time, Chloe looked over her shoulder, silently hoping that Maxine would turn up and leave with her together, but instead the battle continued.

With a heavy heart, the bluenette closed the entrance and continued her way through the passage as fast as she could.

The concrete tunnel went on and on, never making the impression of ending soon. Chloe was almost about to give up from exhaustion as another metallic door came into sight.

Remembering Maxine's words, she searched for another keypad and typed in the code again.

The door closed shut loudly and a red light began to shine. Chloe almost thought that she had done something wrong or that Maxine might've betrayed her, but then she heard agonizing screams from the other side, which were becoming lesser with every passing second, until they had abated entirely.

With a loud noise, some sort of ventilation system got activated and shut off again a few minutes later, followed by a hissing of the door, which ended with a loud click. The red light turned green and hesitantly, Chloe touched the handle and opened the exit.

Gasping and covering her mouth, the young woman witnessed the horror that was presented to her on the other side. The exit of the tunnel had led to a shabby, small building at the harbor which had been guarded by ten of Rachel's men. All of them were lying scattered over the place, their faces grimaced in pain.

Gulping down another wave of bile, Chloe ran towards the exit and was glad when the salty air of the sea was filling her nose. On the close-by pier lied a small, yet modern boat, unguarded and ready for use. Just wanting to get away, she boarded and started the engine, planning to stay in the vicinity and waiting for Maxine to show up.

She had just managed to put a few yards behind as a vast explosion, originating from the Chase's estate, enlightened the night's sky.

* * *

"Keep going! Don't stop!" she said and moved left while Chloe kept on going straight ahead.

Her plan was now to intercept any swept out troops that were heading towards the exit. She hadn't even passed the first intersection as two guards appeared. Four semi-auto fired shots later, they were history.

There was no need to stay silent or stealthy anymore. Maxine literally searched the confrontation now, in order to distract the enemy. She knew that this was a fight she barely could win, but she would try to cause as much damage as possible or – and that would be the best-case-scenario – to kill Rachel Amber for what she'd done and because she represented a fatal threat for Chloe.

Another unit showed up in front of her. She fired a few quick shots and managed to terminate two other men, before the enemy's fire forced her to take cover.

Some more troops appeared behind her and started firing. Smoothly, Maxine ducked, switched the gun to full-auto and mowed down three other opponents by emptying her magazine. Trying to overwhelm her, the other armed men moved in on her position.

Maxine let the assault rifle hang from her tactical sling, quickly drew her sidearm and attacked them in close-combat. The first guardsman was killed with a headshot, while Maxine kicked away the gun of the second guy and shot two rounds in the chest of the third. Using the second man as a human shield against a fourth one by immobilizing him with a kick in his testicles, Maxine killed the last threat with three more shots, before she finished the fight with two more headshots for the two guards who had been still alive.

After reloading her two instruments of death, the young woman continued her way, killing everyone who crossed her way until she had reached the loading area.

Immediately, she received heavy fire, barely managing to take cover behind some more metallic crates. Taking the one or other sneaky peek, she saw that the elevator was at the surface again, probably about to carry some reinforcements down here, additionally to the at least twenty guards who were still gathered in this area alone.

'_Fuckdammit, where is she?!' _Maxine thought as she hadn't been able to spot Rachel. She quickly checked her ammunition, but got disturbed by the sound of a heavy metallic object dropping down beside her.

With a gasp and no other choice, she swiftly picked up the grenade and blindly threw it over the crates, where it exploded not a second later. The deafening explosion was so devastating that one stacked box flew a few yards away, punching a hole into the cover of an underground maintenance shaft.

Then, the elevator came to life and lowered again. Yet, against her assumption, there were no additional guards on it, but a big battle-mech, piloted by Rachel Amber herself, who gave Maxine a devilish smirk, before opening the fire with the two 30 millimeter auto-cannons.

Having already heard the electrical humming of the cannons' motors, Maxine jumped up and ran before the first explosive rounds turned her former cover into a pile of trash. A storm of bullets and shrapnel followed her and it was merely luck that she only received some minor cuts and scratches.

She sprinted as fast as possible, her legs and shoulder hurting like hell. Then, she let herself fall and slid the rest of the way, falling into the hole which that crate had left in the floor, just in time. A hot pain ran through her leg as Maxine hit the bottom while hell broke loose above her.

Under pain, she crawled along the maintenance shaft, catching a breath and evaluating her situation in a small niche.

As soon as Maxine had spotted that Mech, she had known that her chances of survival had slumped down to almost zero percent. Nothing in this place was able to withstand the heavy explosive rounds of this machine of destruction. So, hiding underground and doing guerilla-attacks were the only remaining option. As an addition to her problems, Maxine was also injured and even more outgunned since she lost her rifle during her sprint to the entrance of the maintenance shaft.

But she didn't want to give up the fight, yet! She heard the loud stomps of the Mech above her, probably heading towards her last known position. The perfect opportunity to sneak behind the enemy and do some damage.

"_Find this bitch!" _chimed Rachel's voice through the PA of the Mech as they probably didn't find her.

Maxine then wanted to move as, however, a hot, intense pain in her leg let the brunette groan. She examined her injured limb and found a long piece of metal stuck in it. If anything else, this made things even more complicated.

"_I found a hole!" _yelled one of the guards, followed by the sound of boots hitting the bottom of the shaft. They were coming for her. Five men minimum, evident by the number of stumping heavy footwear, were closing in.

Yet, Maxine realized that this long piece of metal in her leg needs to be taken care of or else it would handicap her too much.

Pressing her lips together as hard as she could to suppress her groaning, she pulled out the long piece of steel. Blood was dripping onto the floor and for a slight moment, Maxine lost control over her senses. Luckily, they kicked in fast enough to realize the guard that had almost reached her position.

Quickly, she jumped up and stuck that metal chunk right into the man's head from below. He couldn't even scream because his tongue got nailed to the palate before it penetrated his brain.

Grapping the dead man's full-auto shotgun and using him as a shield, Maxine filled the tunnel with super-heated flechettes, killing the other guardsmen before they could even take cover.

Having bought herself some time, Maxine used it to wrap up her injured leg, throw in some painkillers and to reload the shotgun.

"_Frag out!" _someone yelled and a bunch of grenades exploded, where the brunette had once entered the shaft, the shockwave letting her lose her balance. Already anticipating that the same would happen at the other entrances as well, Maxine quickly gathered some of the around lying dead corpses in the niche as a barrier against shrapnel. The thermobar-grenades, however, were taking her by surprise.

* * *

Big fireballs were emerging from every gap and entrance of the maintenance tunnel beneath the floor. Even some careless guards became victim of the inferno. But Rachel didn't care if some more of her minions died. There were more, where they had come from.

"_Search the tunnels!" _she ordered her remaining men, watching from her high seat in the cockpit of the Mech.

Her guards approached the hatch, where the young assassin had been seen alive. Another troop took another entrance a few yards away.

With a hand sign, the first man jumped down while the others covered him. Shots were fired and the other guards jumped down.

While the one troop was falling victim to the super-hot flechettes, the men on the other entrance were cut in half by the nano-string that was covering the shaft as they jumped down.

Only three guardsmen were left, shivering in fear upon facing the assassin. One stumbled backwards, urine running down his leg. But it didn't matter, since another barrage of hot projectiles from below devastated his crotch and went all the way up his body until they exited through the skull.

The last two men just dropped their weapons and ran, but didn't come far as they got obliterated by a bunch of 30 mm exploding shells.

"Cowards!" hissed Rachel as she took her finger off the trigger. She checked her instruments and let her gaze wander around the premise, groaning in anger as she came out with nothing. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE CUNT?!" she yelled angrily into the PA and got taken aback as Maxine appeared headfirst in front of the cockpit's window. Her face and clothes were partially burned, but she didn't make the impression that she was even injured. The young woman placed an explosive charge onto the window and jumped down again.

With dilated eyes, Rachel watched how the detonator's red light blinked faster and faster, until it exploded.

The Mech stumbled a few steps backwards, its systems failing, yet it didn't collapse. The enhanced windshield had withstood the detonation, but glass splinters had nonetheless been forced into the cockpit, cutting Rachel's face and entire body, yet didn't injure her enough to disable the furious blond woman.

Screaming out her rage, she kicked open the covering glass, unbuckled the seatbelt and disembarked the war-machine in search for her enemy. Lucky for her, she didn't have to search that long, since she spotted the brunette only a few yards from her position, limping and trying to get away.

Not wasting a second, Rachel drew her gun and shot the young assassin in the back.

* * *

The explosion was stronger than Maxine had anticipated. And it became even more evident as the immense blast tossed her against a stack of crates violently.

Her entire body hurt and she had to fight for staying conscious. Slowly and with a groan, the brunette staggered to get up. Her job was done now and she wanted to keep her promise by following and meet up with Chloe again, no matter how long it would take.

She hadn't even walked that far as a shot blared through the storage room and a stinging hot pain emerged from her back, making the young woman scream out in agony. It was like someone had pulled the plug, as all her strength left her body and she hit the ground face first.

Maxine had always been a pragmatist. She simply knew that she was done. No hope for help. No remaining strength to fight. She was at the mercy of the person who had shot her, and to all her frustration it was Rachel Amber herself, who turned Maxine onto her back with a kick to the side, which made her groan out loudly.

"You annoying, little piece of shit! You have any idea how much trouble you caused?!" the blonde with the bloody cuts throughout her entire body, hissed with gritted teeth.

Maxine didn't reply anything. She just waited for the shot from the gun that was pointed at her face and would end her life. But it didn't happen. Instead, two hands were wrapped around her neck and started to squeeze.

Rachel was now sitting on Maxine, pinning her down and chocking her.

"I told you, I'd kill you with my bare hands, bitch!" she groaned viciously, madness burning in her eyes.

Maxine wanted to give in to her fate. Wanted her life of murder and death to end. But as her life-energy slowly seeped out of her body, one last glimpse of resistance emerged from within, accompanied by an image of Chloe and one last straw of hope.

She met Rachel's gaze coldly and without any emotion or fear, literally mocking her with it. And as she had anticipated, it distracted the blonde long enough to reach for the secret compartment of her jeans.

With all her remaining strength, she raised her arm and touched Rachel's cheek softly and, suddenly, the blonde froze, her eyes widening in shock.

Blood started to flow out of her eyes, ears, nose and mouth as the second barrage of hyper-sonic waves ran through her head. The third wave let her finally crumble to the ground, reddish-grey ooze now building a horrific puddle around her head.

Rachel Amber was dead. As well as Victoria Chase and any other person who knew about Chloe's real identity. An inner peace flowed through the brunette's mind, making her sigh in relief. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep. But once more, this inner resistance emerged and gave her another jolt of energy.

Using the frame of the shelf, Maxine lifted herself onto her feet and though she managed to stand up, she was very aware of the fact that the way to Chloe would be an almost impossible task…almost!

As she wanted to head back to the medical lab and treat her wounds, the vast elevator came to life again. Probably reinforcements, which Rachel had called some time ago. Despite the vast amount of weapons and ammunition, scattered around the room, Maxine had no chance to keep up or even win another fight. But just giving up now, wasn't an option either. So, how to win against an armed enemy without a fight?

'_Defeating him before the fight even starts!'_ thought Maxine and already had an idea.

As fast as possible and suppressing all the pain, the brunette approached and climbed up the Mech. Lacking the heads up display of the reinforced glass, Maxine used a smaller display to enter some commands. Having learned to control and use a big variety of combat-vehicles, the young brunette deactivated all security-protocols and set the Mech's reactor to overload.


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

[Different narrations from various news-broadcasts]

"_Last night, a vast explosion, originating from Chase manor had enlightened the night's sky and caused severe damage to the surrounding area."_

"_So far, no survivors have been found. The cause of the explosion is still unknown."_

"_Search troops have started to explore the crater and the surrounding area. Still, no survivors and chances are melting away with every passing hour."_

"_The damage-estimate goes into the billions. Debris has been scattered over an area of six square-miles. Luckily, no one else has been severely injured."_

"_What you see here, is the cockpit of a German KMW Kampfläufer III Ausführung F, short: Donar. A widely used battle-mech during the second civil war. Their usage had been banned and put under severe punishment, yet it was still allowed to collect them. Some sources are saying that the explosion could've been caused by the detonation of its reactor."_

"_Today, Victoria Maribeth Chase and Rachel Dawn Amber have been declared dead by the High Council. This is the second tragic setback within two weeks for the big families, since the mysterious death of High-Judge James Amber. In addition to the big mourning reception in the Main-District of New Washington, minor receptions will be held in every district."_

"_Larry, it's a miracle and sensation at the same time. The Price Foundation has been re-founded by late multi-billionaire William Price's daughter Chloe Elizabeth Price, who had been hidden out of security-measures until she would be able to take over her father's vast empire, under the stewardship of the Amber family. And you can't believe what her first act was! She took over all Amber possessions and started to build new homes, hospitals and jobs for the main public. She also declared to continue her father's work of installing a new democratic government…"_

* * *

She turned off the TV, already tired of hearing the same news over and over again. They called her everything, from saint to treacherous whore. But Chloe never wanted to any of this. She just wanted to help the people. Wanted to end the reign of the Big Five. She promised it.

The bluenette had already done the first steps, but the road was long and littered with deadly traps.

Having made Rachel Amber's former residence her new home and headquarter, Chloe Price gazed out of the big window and saw the first results of her doings. Construction sites as far as she could see. Working people, who were building their own future.

Chloe had opened her part of the inner district, yet Nathan Prescott still owned two-third of it as he had been given the stewardship over Victoria Chase's former property. She had already offered him a fortune, but being obedient to his father, Nathan had neglected to make any deals with Chloe, which didn't mean that she would stop trying, though.

"Miss Price?" chimed Rachel's former secretary's voice from behind, making the bluenette turn towards the thin brunette with chin-long hair, dressed in some casual clothes.

"It's just Chloe, Steph! You already know that I've a problem with this formal shit."

"Yes…right! Sorry, Chloe!" Stephanie Gingrich apologized, with a lowered gaze, which got raised by Chloe's soft touch right away.

"No prob. So, 'sup, Steph?"

"I just wanna inform you that Mr. Prescott has just handed us over everything he possesses," said the brunette and gave Chloe a bunch of documents, who took them with an awestruck demeanor.

"What?! He accepted our offer?!"

"Actually…no. He just sent the cession contract, nothing else. Maybe he wants to join our cause?"

"Prescott and joining our cause?!" Chloe scoffed and sat down on her fancy desk while looking over the contract. "This slimy ass-kisser would never even dare to piss off the council. No, something else is goin' on here and I-…"

Suddenly, Chloe stopped reading and looked at Steph with wide open eyes. "Steph, who brought this stuff?"

Surprised by the question and never given it much thought, Steph just stammered, "Uh…a courier, I think."

Quickly, Chloe jumped up and grabbed the brunette by her shoulders, who almost wanted to back away out of fear, originating from her former mistress' bad treatment. "Steph, how did this courier look like?"

"Geez, I-I don't know. It was a girl. My height. Brunette. Had some scars on her face. Nothing else unusual."

Letting go of Steph, Chloe dashed towards the window and focused on the main gate. There stood a person, obviously gazing back at her, before it disappeared in a crowd of workers that was walking by.

"Maxine!" she whispered, a soft smile on her lips while a single tear rolled down her face.

Steph, who still didn't understand her boss' reaction, looked at the small, on the contract detached message:

_Make them pay!_

_Your Guardian Angel_


End file.
